Oct. 23, 2019

Oct. 23, 2019

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Volume C

CARLY CALHOUN ’21 Assistant News Editor LUKE MALANGA ’20 Editor in Chief The N-word was discovered Oct. 5 on a whiteboard of a suite door in LaFarge Hall, prompting a report of a bias incident to The Office of Public Safety and Security.

The residents of the suite had written the question “What’s your favorite cereal?” on the board. Below that, somebody wrote

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Est. 1929

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the N-word in response.

In the Oct. 9 issue of The Hawk, St. Joe’s included the incident, provided by Public Safety, in the weekly Public Safety report. Beginning last year, incidences of bias have been included in these reports.

The report described the “bias incident” as “offensive graffiti” but no additional information was provided.

Wadell Ridley, interim chief inclusion and diversity officer, sent an email to university faculty, staff and students on Oct. 9 with the subject “A Message from the

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The Student Newspaper of Saint Joseph’s University

Interim CIDO.” The email described the challenges of his position and the mission of the university regarding inclusion and equity. Later in the email, the racial bias incident was mentioned.

“It is disappointing to learn of recent incidents of bias and exploitation,” Ridley wrote. “In the last few weeks, we have had two such incidents on campus whiteboards: one involving racist language and a second involving a sexually explicit drawing.”

Jane Ingram-Noel ’20, co-president of the Black Student Union (BSU), said St.

Joe’s needs to be more open about the racial bias reporting process and the repercussions in order to see real change.

“A person’s not going to change if they don’t know what to change,” Ingram-Noel said. “Until the university directly opens up about it and tells us what actually happened, and then has policies that describe what the consequences of those actions are, I don’t see people here changing.”

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Workers reach tentative agreement over wage increases ALEX HARGRAVE ’20 Digital Managing Editor The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which represents St. Joe’s cleaners, has reached a tentative agreement with the cleaning and maintenance company Arthur Jackson to increase the cleaners’ hourly wage rates at St. Joe’s. According to Traci Benjamin, SEIU’s communications specialist for local 32BJ, the agreement now has to be ratified by union members.

Rose Weldon, a member of St. Joe’s cleaning staff since 2001, said she was told by her union representative on Oct. 18 that hourly wages for St. Joe’s cleaners would be raised to the same rate as workers across the city within four years.

Currently, 32BJ workers contracted to

workplaces at other locations in Philadelphia earn about $18 per hour, while workers at St. Joe’s earn less than $15 per hour.

The current lower hourly pay rate for St. Joe’s cleaners is the result of a “rider” in the contract between The Arthur Jackson Company and St. Joe’s.

“I’m excited,” Weldon said during her lunch break in Bellarmine Hall. “It’s a long time coming. I’m just excited they are going to do the right thing.”

According to Benjamin, details of the tentative wage agreement for St. Joe’s cleaning staff have not yet been released “because the workers have not had an opportunity to get the full ratification where they come in and discuss the contract and the changes.”

CONTINUED ON PG. 2

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St. Joe’s cleaners marched through campus in an effort to gather support during ongoing contract negotiations.

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Oct. 23, 2019

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Cleaners at St. Joe’s rally for better wages on Oct. 10. PHOTO: LUKE MALANGA ’20

Cleaners at St. Joe’s rally for better wages ALEX HARGRAVE ’20 Digital Managing Editor LUKE MALANGA ’20 Editor in Chief The original version of this story was published at sjuhawknews.com on Oct. 11.

Members of the St. Joe’s housekeeping staff gathered Oct. 10 on campus to express their frustrations over what union representative Daisy Cruz described as a two-decadeslong battle for higher wages.

“These workers are just tired,” Cruz said.

“They’ve asked nicely, they’ve done everything they’ve needed to do and they’re just tired of getting underpaid.”

The St. Joe’s cleaners, contracted through The Arthur Jackson Company, earn less than $15 per hour. Their counterparts, who clean buildings throughout the Philadelphia area, such as the Comcast Center, are paid roughly $18 an hour.

At the rally, the cleaners were joined by students, faculty and staff in a march from Campion Student Center to the corner of Cardinal and City Avenue.

When the march arrived at Cardinal Ave, Shana Cohen, a cleaner at St. Joe’s for over 11 years, sat in the street along with two other women despite police orders to move to the sidewalk. She was placed in handcuffs by police and given a citation along with another St. Joe’s cleaner and the women’s union representative, who were sitting with her.

“We just need a living wage. That’s all we want,” said Cohen, after being released by police. “We work hard at this campus. Without us, this campus wouldn’t look like it looks.”

Tamika Fields has worked as a cleaner at St. Joe’s for eight years after being employed by Lankenau Medical Center.

Because Fields’ contract was originally between Arthur Jackson and Lankenau, she is paid around $18 hourly, which other St. Joe’s cleaners are asking for.

“When I saw that when I came on campus that I was getting more than this place, I said it’s the same company and the same union, this is not right,” Fields said.

The workers said they’ve received no explanation from Arthur Jackson, or St. Joe’s, as to why their pay rate is lower.

“They’re doing the same exact work,” Cruz said. “They love their work. They’ve been here a long time,” Cruz said. “All they’re asking is for a living wage.”

According to University President Mark

C. Reed, Ed.D., the contract between St. Joe’s and Arthur Jackson is not in question nor up for renewal at this time. He also said the university is not part of negotiations.

“It is important to note that SJU does not set the wages for vendors’ employees and does not pay contracted staff directly,” Reed said in an email response to questions from The Hawk. “While our housekeeping staff are valued members of our community, they are Arthur Jackson employees. Their collective bargaining agreement is with Arthur Jackson, not SJU.” Reed added, “We support the rights and efforts of contracted workers to advocate for and negotiate a mutually acceptable agreement with their employer.”

The cleaners said while their main concerns lie with Arthur Jackson, who directly employs them, they’re still asking for the support of the university.

Bob Martin is the president of Building Operations Labor Relations (BOLR), which represents Arthur Jackson, as well as other companies who employ Service Employees International Union (SEUI) 32BJ workers. The SEIU represents the roughly 50 St. Joe’s cleaners.

While there is a general contract between local 32BJ and BOLR that determines details such as how the workers are paid and how workers are provided benefits, there is also a contract between St. Joe’s and Arthur Jackson to provide cleaning services. Within this contract is a specific provision, called a “rider,” that dictates a lower pay rate, according to Martin.

Martin said the rider would have been negotiated between Arthur Jackson and SEIU 32BJ, but St. Joe’s would likely have some say in those discussions. Martin does not know the specifics of the rider, but offered some possible reasoning.

“St. Joe’s might have had a budget that would drive them to having to have some conversations about how expensive the cleaning could or could not be,” Martin said. “Our contract mainly applies to the commercial office sector of the business. Saint Joseph’s University is obviously not a commercial office building and has a much different set of economics associated with it.”

In response to questions from The Hawk, Pete Brown, CEO of The Arthur Jackson Company wrote in an email that it would not be prudent for him to “comment or give out information while negotiations are ongoing.”

In response to a question about the university’s role in the implementation of the rider, Gail Benner, public relations director,

said in an email response to questions from The Hawk, “I can’t speculate on hypothetical contract scenarios. While we do not have a direct role in the current negotiations between our building maintenance contractor and their employees, we support employees’ right to advocate.”

Rose Weldon, one of the workers involved in the bargaining committee, has been working at St. Joe’s for 20 years. Weldon said “It’s a fight” to get higher wages.

In larger negotiations between 32BJ workers and building managers in the downtown area, workers are looking for expanded pensions and health care. For St. Joe’s employees, their main goal is being paid a wage equal to other workers across the city.

St. Joe’s cleaners will participate in a citywide strike if they don’t get the wages they’re asking for by midnight Oct. 15, the day the contract between local 32BJ and BOLR expires.

“When we go to the table and it’s not what we want, of course we’re going to shut it down,” Weldon said. “We’re not going to work.”

Attendees of the rally chanted “poverty wages got to go” as they marched through the parking lot adjacent to Campion Student Center. Public Safety, Philadelphia Police and Merion Police officers were present, along with a crowd of about 100 people. Representatives from university groups in attendance included University Student Senate, Hawks for Just Employment, the Black Student Union and Campus Ministry.

Jess Arends ’20 helped organize the rally with Hawks for Just Employment, a student organization advocating for workers’ rights. The group is working with the university to draft a Just Employment policy on campus. For Arends, workers represent the mission of St. Joe’s.

“This is an act to stand with [the cleaning staff],” Arends said. “Because the St. Joe’s community isn’t just students, faculty and staff. It is all of us.”

Weldon said she thought the rally was effective in getting the message across to “open up the eyes of minds” of university members and galvanize their support.

“We do deserve the pay that we’re asking for,” Weldon said. “Our work has been doubled because they have let people go, so when they let people go that means they have to add that work onto other people. We just deserve our pay. That’s all I can say. We’re still doing our work. We’re still doing our work regardless. We’re just hoping that they would just do right by us.”

The day after the rally, three students

connected to Hawks for Just Employment, attempted to present to Reed a petition, signed by 84 university members, calling for the university to stand with its cleaners.

Stephanie Crispell ’20, a leader of Hawks for Just Employment, was one of the students who were welcomed into the President’s Office to hand off the petition. Although Reed wasn’t in his office, an assistant assured them it would get to him.

Crispell told The Hawk she thinks the university, can have an impact on these workers’ requests.

“St. Joe’s sub contracts out to Arthur Jackson as well as other subcontracted workers or organizations, but St. Joe’s has the ability to set stipulations to those contractors, so they can set specific wages that contractors need to implement if they are going to be working at St. Joe’s,” Crispell said. “They can set different dignity of workplace stipulations.”

On Sept. 25, Weldon tried to deliver a petition from her co-workers to Reed, “letting them know the frustration of not being paid.”

When Weldon and her co-workers arrived, she said they were met by Public Safety officers and the Director of Public Safety and Security, Art Grover.

Grover said he had word the cleaners would be coming to speak with the president at Regis Hall, but he does not remember who made that call. He said he was asked to receive the petition on Reed’s behalf—outside of the President’s Office.

Reed said he was not on campus at the time and did not instruct Public Safety to be in or around Regis. Still, Weldon said she was disappointed that she was kept away from an office that her co-workers clean.

“It was a little offensive,” Weldon said. “We do work there. We clean there often. I couldn’t understand the logic in it. We weren’t there to hurt anyone. We were just there to pass off a piece of paper.”

Weldon, a minister at her church in West Philadelphia, said the people she works for in the buildings all these years “have been nothing but loving, compassionate, and caring.”

Still, she thinks the university can do better concerning their workers—including contracted workers.

“I feel as a university, as a Catholic university, as a religious place, that things should be much different than what they are,” Weldon said. “I believe that people should practice what they preach.”

Cara Smith ’21 contributed to this story.

News

The Hawk Newspaper

Oct. 23, 2019

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Empleados de mantenimiento marchan por un mejor salario LUKE MALANGA ’20 Editor in Chief ALEX HARGRAVE ’20 Digital Managing Editor CAROLINA GONZÁLEZ ’20 Translator Miembros del equipo de limpieza de St. Joe's se manifestaron en el campus de la universidad este pasado 10 de octubre para expresar sus frustraciones en cuanto a lo que la representante de la unión de trabajadores Daisy Cruz describe como una batalla para salarios más altos; la misma cuál ha durado sobre dos décadas.

“Estos trabajadores simplemente están cansados,” dijo Cruz. “Han rogado de manera amable, han hecho todo lo posible y simplemente están cansados de no recibir paga adecuada.”

El equipo de mantenimiento de St. Joe's, contratado a través de la Arthur Jackson Company, hacen menos de $15 por hora. Sus contrapartes, los cuales limpian edificios en Filadelfia y sus alrededores, son pagados cerca de $18 la hora.

Durante la manifestación, estudiantes y miembros de la facultad y administración se unieron a los trabajadores en la marcha desde Campion Student Center a la esquina de las avenidas Cardinal y City.

Cuando los manifestantes llegaron a la avenida Cardinal, Shana Cohen, una empleada que lleva 11 años en la universidad, se sentó en medio de la calle junto a otra empleada de mantenimiento y una representante de la unión de trabajadores, a pesar de ser ordenadas a moverse a la acera por parte de la policía. Las tres fueron esposadas y citadas a corte.

“Solo necesitamos un salario adecuado.

Eso es todo lo que queremos,” dijo Cohen, luego de ser liberada por la policía. “Nosotros nos fajamos. Sin nosotros, este campus no se vería de la forma que se ve actualmente.”

Tamika Fields ha trabajado para St. Joe's por ocho años luego de ser empleada del Lankenau Medical Center. Ya que el contrato original de Fields’ era entre Arthur Jackson y Lankenau, su salario es de $18 la hora; el salario que exigen otros empleados de mantenimiento.

“Cuando llegué a este lugar y vi que me pagaban más, dije esto es la misma compañía y la misma unión, esto no es justo,” dijo Fields.

Los trabajadores dijeron que no recibieron ninguna explicación de parte de Arthur Jackson, o St. Joe's, en cuanto por qué su salario es menos que el de Fields.

“Están haciendo exactamente el mismo trabajo,” dijo Cruz. “Ellos aman su trabajo.

Han estado aquí por mucho tiempo, y lo único que piden es un salario que de abasto.”

Según el presidente de la universidad, Mark C. Reed, Ed.D., el contrato entre Saint Joseph’s y Arthur Jackson no califica para renovaciones ni negociaciones en este momento. También dijo que la universidad no es parte de esta discusión.

“Es importante notar que SJU no establece el salario, ni le paga directamente, a empleados por contrato,” dijo Reed en un correo electrónico a The Hawk. “Aunque nuestros empleados de limpieza son miembros valorados dentro de nuestra comunidad, al final del día son empleados de Arthur Jackson. Sus actas de negociaciones son entre ellos y Arthur Jackson, no SJU.” Reed añadío, “Apoyamos los esfuerzos de empleados por contrato y su derecho por abogar por contratos beneficiosos, tanto para ellos como para su patrono.”

El equipo de mantenimiento dijo que aunque sus mayores pleitos van dirigidos hacia Arthur Jackson, quien les provee empleo, todavía piden apoyo de parte de la universidad.

Bob Martin es el presidente de el Building Operations Labor Relations (BOLR por sus siglas en inglés), quién representa a Arthur Jackson, como a otras compañías quienes le proveen empleo a miembros del Service Employees International Union

empleados de poder manifestarse.”

Rose Weldon, una de las trabajadoras involucradas en el comité de negociaciones, ha estado trabajando en Saint Joseph’s por dos décadas. Weldon dice que esto es “una lucha” para obtener mejor paga.

Rose Weldon (medio), miembra del equipo de mantenimiento de St. Joe's, lidera la marcha hacia la esquina de las avenidas Cardinal y City PHOTO: LUKE MALANGA '20/THE HAWK

Participantes de la manifestación forman un círculo en la avenida Cardinal.

PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS '22/THE HAWK

(SEUI por sus siglas en inglés) 32BJ. La SEUI representa a cerca de 50 empleados de mantenimiento de Saint Joseph’s.

Aunque hay un contrato general entre la entidad local de 32BJ y el BOLR que determina ciertos detalles, tales como cómo los empleados reciben su salario y sus beneficios, también hay un contrato entre St. Joe's y Arthur Jackson para proveer servicios de limpieza. Dentro de este contrato hay una disposición específica, que dicta una paga más baja, según Martin.

Martin dice que esta disposición habría sido negociada entre Arthur Jackson y SEIU 32BJ, pero que la universidad probablemente tuvo algo que ver dentro de estas negociaciones. Martin no sabe específicamente qué estipula ésta disposición, pero proveyó posibles razonamientos.

“Saint Joseph’s quizás tenía un presupuesto fijo, lo cual pudo haber llevado a una conversación sobre cuán caro o barato pudiese ser los servicios de limpieza,” Martin dijo. “Nuestro contrato primordialmente aplica al sector de nuestro negocio que se ocupa de contratos con oficinas comerciales. Saint Joseph’s University obviamente no es un edificio de oficinas, y tiene un esquema financiero diferente a otras entidades.”

En respuesta a varias preguntas de este medio, Pete Brown, CEO de el Arthur Jackson Company, dijo en un correo electrónico que no sería prudente de él “comentar o proveer información durante este proceso de negociaciones.”

En respuesta a una pregunta a cerca de el rol de la universidad en cuanto a la implementación de la disposición en el contrato, Gail Benner, directora de relaciones públicas de St. Joe's, dijo en un correo electrónico a The Hawk, “no puedo especular en cuanto a situaciones hipotéticas.

Mientras no estamos tomando parte en las negociaciones actuales entre la compañía de limpieza que hemos contratado y sus empleados, apoyamos el derecho de los

En negociaciones más grandes entre empleados de la 32BJ y gerentes de varios edificios en el área de downtown, trabajadores buscan mejores pensiones y planes médicos. Para empleados de Saint Joseph’s, el objetivo primordial es obtener la misma paga que otros empleados dentro de Filadelfia.

El equipo de mantenimiento de St. Joe's participará en una manifestación que involucra a otros empleados de la ciudad si su patrono no cumple con sus demandas a eso de la medianoche el 15 de octubre, el día que el contrato entre la ente local de 32BJ y BOLR se expira.

“Si entramos al área de negociaciones y no recibimos lo que estamos pidiendo, obviamente vamos a manifestarnos,” dijo Weldon. “No vamos a trabajar.”

Manifestantes coreaban “eliminen salarios de pobreza” mientras marchaban por el estacionamiento adyacente al Campion Student Center.

Oficiales de Public Safety, la policía de Filadelfia y la policía de Lower Merion estuvieron presentes, junto a una multitud de sobre 100 personas. Varios grupos y clubes de la universidad también estuvieron representados en la marcha, incluyendo el Student Senate, Hawks for Just Employment, el Black Student Union y Campus Ministry.

Jess Arends ’20 ayudó a organizar el evento junto a Hawks for Just Employment, una organización estudiantil dedicada a advocar por los derechos de los trabajadores. El grupo está trabajando junto a la universidad para redactar una política de empleo justo dentro del campus. Para Arends, estos trabajadores representan la misión de Saint Joseph’s.

“Esto es para poder estar en solidaridad con [el equipo de limpieza],” dijo Arends. “Porque la comunidad de Saint Joseph’s no solo está compuesta por los estudiantes, sino también por la facultad y la administración. Esta comunidad somos

todos nosotros.”

Weldon dijo que piensa que la manifestación logró llevar el mensaje de manera efectiva; este mensaje siendo que los miembros de la comunidad universitaria “abran los ojos de la mente”. También dijo que el evento logró ayudar a galvanizar el apoyo de la comunidad.

“Nos merecemos el salario por el cual estamos luchando,” Weldon dijo. “Nuestro trabajo ha aumentado ya que han despedido a varios empleados, lo cual significa que ahora nosotros tenemos que hacer nuestro trabajo, más el de ellos. Solo nos merecemos nuestra paga. Eso es todo lo que puedo decir. Seguimos haciendo nuestro trabajo a pesar de todo. Solo esperamos que hagan bien por nosotros.”

El día después de la manifestación, tres estudiantes representantes de Hawks for Just Employments, intentaron presentar una protesta ante el presidente Reed, firmada por 84 miembros de la comunidad universitaria, haciendo un llamado a la universidad para que apoyen los esfuerzos de los empleados de mantenimiento.

Stephanie Crispell ’20, una de las líderes de Hawks for Just Employment, fue una de las estudiantes que fue permitida entrar a la oficina del presidente para entregar la petición. Aunque Reed no se encontraba en su oficina, una de sus asistentes aseguró que la petición llegaría a manos de él.

Crispell le dijo a The Hawk que piensa que la universidad pudiera tener un impacto en las demandas de los trabajadores.

“Saint Joseph’s contrata a empleados de Arthur Jackson y otras compañías y organizaciones, pero la universidad tiene la habilidad de establecer ciertos parámetros dentro de dichos contratos, incluyendo salarios específicos que empleados han de recibir si estarán trabajando dentro de la universidad,” Crispell dijo. “Pueden establecer ciertas regulaciones dentro del espacio de trabajo.”

El 25 de septiembre, Weldon intentó entregarle una petición redactada por sus compañeros de trabajo a Reed, “para dejarle saber sus frustraciones acerca de su salario.”

Cuando Weldon y sus compañeros llegaron a la oficina, se toparon con oficiales de Public Safety y el director de seguridad y Public Safety, Art Grover.

Grover dijo que había sido informado de que los empleados de mantenimiento estarían yendo a Regis Hall para hablar con el presidente, pero que no recuerda quién exactamente le proveyó esta información. Dijo también que le pidieron que recibiera la petición de parte de Reed— justo afuera de la oficina del presidente.

Reed dijo que él no se encontraba en el campus en ese momento y que no le dio órdenes a Public Safety de que rodearan el área afuera de Regis. A pesar de esto, Weldon dijo que estaba decepcionada por el hecho de que a ella y sus compañeros se les negara la entrada a una oficina que ellos mismos limpian.

“Lo encuentro un poco ofensivo,” dijo Weldon. “Nosotros trabajamos ahí. Limpiamos ahí frecuentemente. No entiendo su lógica. No estábamos ahí para pelear con nadie. Simplemente estábamos ahí para entregar un pedazo de papel.”

Weldon, quien funge como ministro en su iglesia en el oeste de Filadelfia, dijo que las personas dentro de los edificios en los cuales ella ha trabajado por los últimos años “han sido amables y compasivos.” Sin embargo, opina que la universidad pudiese hacer un mejor trabajo cuando se trata de sus empleados—incluyendo a empleados por contrato.

“Siento que esta universidad, al ser una universidad católica, un espacio religioso, que las cosas deberían ser diferentes,” Weldon dijo. “Pienso que las personas deberían practicar lo que predican.”

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News

The Hawk Newspaper

Oct. 23, 2019

FROM PG. 1

N-word discovered on students' whiteboard In the email Ridley wrote that “appropriate disciplinary steps will be taken” and the “unacceptable actions of the few will not undermine the positive work and the goals of many.”

In an Oct. 17 email response to questions from The Hawk to explain how he plans to address this incident and others, Ridley wrote, “I am still refining the next steps, a conversation would be premature at this time, I’ll be in touch when I have a more specific update to share.”

Students who live on the floor, where at least six people of color live, were hesitant to speak about what happened. One resident on the floor, who requested to remain anonymous, said she was surprised by the incident.

“It baffled me because I couldn’t even think that would happen again, especially after how big of an uproar it caused last year,” she said. “I was just confused as to how someone could be OK with that, writing that and thinking it was a good joke. It’s not a joke. In any context, it’s not a joke.”

The Hawk reported on Nov. 28, 2018 an incident detailing two first-year students’ discovery of letters on a felt board on their door which had been rearranged to spell the word “coons.” The ensuing response from the community resulted in a sit-in at a Board of Trustees meeting, an open forum hosted by the BSU, and other campus discussions.

Following the response from reports of the incident, the university promised changes as detailed in an email from University President Mark C. Reed, Ed.D. Still, Ingram-Noel said these incidents

keep happening because the university has yet to give direct responses and communicate clear repercussions for perpetrators.

“Without response, or an appropriate response, from the university, I think people will continue doing it,” Ingram-Noel said.

“Until they make it very clear and take every situation seriously and make sure it gets public out there, I seriously doubt that students [are] going to change and know that they have to change.”

One change implemented in the community standards process is the Bias Activity Response Group, which includes Ridley; Mary Elaine Perry, Ed.D., Title IX and bias response coordinator; Zenobia Hargust, chief human resources officer; and Art Grover, director of Public Safety.

“When these complaints come in, they are shared among the bias activity response group,” Perry said. “We’ll give recommendations to community standards around how we think something should move forward.”

Perry said community standards also made changes to the bias incident procedure from last year. Now, instead of one faculty member from community standards hearing the case, a community standards panel made up of a student, a faculty member and a staff member will hear the case.

“It would be an extenuating circumstance in which we would have a single administrator,” Perry said. “Ninety-nine out of 100 will be the [community standards] panel.”

The university has not yet identified who is responsible for writing the N-word on the

whiteboard in LaFarge, but Perry said they are looking at all of the available information and speaking to people on the floor.

“If we can find out who did it, it would certainly go through the adjudication process,” Perry said. “If we can’t find out who did it, we just pay attention to the climate on the floor and see if there are other issues that percolate.”

Ingram-Noel said she wasn’t surprised that a racial bias incident, much like the one that occurred last year, happened again on campus, but she was surprised that it was kept quiet. She said she suspects the university feared the same negative attention it received last year after that incident went public.

But Ingram-Noel said the university’s silence leads to others being afraid to speak up because of lack of support.

“The people here on campus, they might experience something and they’re too afraid to say anything about it because they are the minority,” Ingram-Noel said. “Who would think their voices would be heard when they have thousands of other people who are not so much are against them but aren’t in [their] situation? Why would they care and want to make a change about it?”

Adam Mullin ’20, president of the University Student Senate (USS) , said in an email to The Hawk that he believes the first step to change is acknowledging that all students have an obligation to support and care about each other no matter what.

“We should take long, hard looks at ourselves and question whether we best respect

others,” Mullin said in the email. “Only then can we turn outward to address larger structures and organizations that fail to meet the needs of all.”

Ingram-Noel said she thinks one way the university can address the racial climate at St. Joe’s is for the Jesuits to “use their knowledge and use their power on campus to speak out about it.”

Tom Brennan, S.J., English department chair, like many other individuals The Hawk spoke to, was unaware of the most recent racial bias incident. He said he was “horrified” about what happened last year and was “horrified again” when told about it.

“I think what we need to do is acknowledge that there is a racial issue, and that is a function of having a campus with people who are white and privileged,” Brennan said. “These incidents have to be at the center of our concern.”

Brennan, who teaches Craft of Language, includes a unit in his corse addressing privilege, specifically regarding race.

Many of his Jesuit and professor colleagues are also committed to teaching about racial injustices, according to Brennan. He said he will be adding this most recent incident to his discussions in class.

“The temptation is to see it as something in the past, that we fixed it, but we didn’t,” Brennan said.

Ingram-Noel said she is hopeful change will come.

“I just hope that St. Joe’s is ready for it,” Ingram-Noel said.

Department of Public Safety reports (Oct. 4 - Oct. 17) Oct. 4 Public Safety was notified of an odor of marijuana coming from a room in Ashwood Apartments. A search of the room by Public Safety and Residence Life revealed no signs of marijuana or drug paraphernalia. Community Standards was notified.

Public Safety was notified of a fire alarm inside Ashwood Apartments. Public Safety officers responded. Preliminary investigation revealed the alarm was activated due to the recent power outage in that area. Alarm was reset.

Oct. 5 Public Safety confiscated a keg of beer in the Mandeville Hall parking lot. Community Standards was notified.

Public Safety was notified by an area resident regarding St. Joe’s students throwing trash on his lawn located in the 5800 block of Drexel Road. Public Safety responded. Community Standards was notified.

Oct. 6 Public Safety confiscated a quantity of alcohol inside the lobby of Rashford Apartments. Residence Life notified. Community Standards was notified.

Oct. 7 Public Safety was notified by the Saint Joseph’s University Bookstore in regards to four juveniles acting disorderly in the store. Philadelphia Police notified and responded. The juveniles were escorted off campus property without incident.

Oct. 8 Public Safety was notified by a parent of a St. Joe’s student in regards to students harassing their son. Title IX coordinator was notified. Community Standards was notified.

Investigation continuing.

Oct. 9 Public Safety was notified by a St. Joe’s student in regards to person(s) unknown making inappropriate sexual comments to them while walking on Cardinal Avenue. Title IX coordinator was notified. Community Standards was notified. Investigation continuing.

Public Safety was notified of an odor of marijuana coming from a room in the McShain Hall. A search of the room by Public Safety and Residence Life revealed no signs of marijuana or drug paraphernalia. Community Standards was notified.

Oct. 11 Public Safety was notified of a fire alarm inside Sourin Hall. Public Safety officers responded. Preliminary investigation revealed the alarm was activated due to a washing machine overheating. Alarm was reset.

Public Safety was notified by a St. Joe’s employee in regards to person(s) unknown moving furniture around in the Commuter Lounge. Incident under investigation.

Oct. 14 Public Safety was notified by Residence Life in regards to person(s) unknown writing graffiti, sexual in nature, on a first floor win-

dow of the LaFarge Hall. Title IX coordinator notified. Community Standards was notified.

Incident under investigation.

Public Safety confiscated a quantity of alcohol from inside the lobby of the Merion Gardens. Residence Life notified. Community Standards was notified.

Oct. 15 Public Safety was notified regarding a possible handgun in a student’s room inside the Villiger Hall. A search of the room by Public Safety and Residence Life revealed no signs of any handguns. Community Standards was notified.

Oct. 16 Public Safety was notified of a fire alarm inside Lannon Apartments. Public Safety officers responded. Preliminary investigation revealed the alarm was activated due to a student cooking. Alarm was reset.

Oct. 17 Public Safety was notified of a bias incident regarding a St. Joe’s student uttering an offensive religious statement while in a classroom in Merion Hall. Title IX coordinator was notified. Community Standards was notified.

Incident under investigation.

ALCOHOL RELATED INCIDENTS

6 1

On campus

Off campus

DRUG RELATED INCIDENTS

2

On campus

2

Off campus

Call Public Safety:

610-660-1111

News

The Hawk Newspaper

Oct. 23, 2019

5

FROM PG. 1

Cleaning staff reaches tentative agreement over wage increase The St. Joe’s agreement comes after 32BJ SEIU reached an initial, tentative agreement for all 32BJ members with The Arthur Jackson Company’s representative, Building Operations Labor Relations (BOLR) on Oct. 15, averting a potential strike. Union members have yet to ratify this agreement as well, Benjamin said.

Weldon was elected 32BJ shop steward in 2008, which means she serves as the representative for the approximately 50 cleaners who work on St. Joe’s campus and are represented by the SEIU. Weldon attributed the tentative agreement to a rally held on campus on Oct. 10, where St. Joe’s faculty, staff and students joined 32BJ members and advocated for the cleaners to receive wages equal to Arthur Jackson workers elsewhere in Philadelphia.

“Everyone now knows what’s been going on for so many years,” Weldon said.

“They know now that it’s not going to go away, and it’s still not going to go away [until the agreement is finalized].”

Weldon said the support from members of the university community makes her emotional.

“The day of that rally, I saw so much compassion and so much caring,” Weldon said. “I talk to a lot of people here and I know how they feel, but it stretched beyond those that I knew personally.”

The rally was organized by 32BJ SEIU

with the support of Hawks for Just Employment, a student organization advocating for workers’ rights on campus.

After the rally, Stephanie Crispell ’20, a leader of Hawks for Just Employment, delivered a petition with 84 signatures to university President Mark C. Reed, Ed.D, calling for the university to stand with its workers.

Reed was not in his office, but his assistant received the petition on his behalf.

In an email response to questions from The Hawk, Gail Benner, public relations director at St. Joe’s, said, “the university has been following the living and prevailing wage issues for some time” and recommendations for how to proceed are expected to be complete by Spring 2020.

“The Just Employment Ad Hoc Committee was formed by university mandate in 2018 and is developing a proposal to inform the university’s approach to living wage, which could include a recommendation for how we negotiate future contracts,” Benner wrote in the email. “In addition, a holistic and comprehensive compensation review, spearheaded by Human Resources, started this past summer.”

Joy Woodall has been a member of the St. Joe’s cleaning staff for 19 years, cleaning residences such as LaFarge Hall, Sourin Hall, Lannon and Rashford Apartments. Woodall said she is living paycheck to paycheck, so a higher wage would do “so much more.”

“We really do a lot around here, especially during the summer,” Woodall said. “In the summer we’re doing stoves, refrigerators, tubs, the whole thing, and we still get paid the same amount.”

According to Weldon, the St. Joe’s community is “compassionate, caring and attentive” to the point where she receives cards on her birthday and holidays.

Still, Weldon said she believes she and

her coworkers “deserve what they deserve” in terms of wages. She emphasized that once the tentative agreement is finalized, “It’ll be better.”

“It’s only a couple more dollars, but it’ll be better living,” Weldon said. “I’ll be able to do a little something, save a little something.

I’ll be looking at my check, and I’ll be happy.”

Luke Malanga ’20 and Cara Smith ’21 contributed to this story.

Rose Weldon cleans every bathroom and office in Bellarmine Hall.

PHOTO: LUKE MALANGA ’20/THE HAWK

Equipo de mantenimiento llega a un acuerdo tentativo en cuanto a aumento en salario ALEX HARGRAVE ’20 Digital Managing Editor CAROLINA GONZÁLEZ ’20 Translator La Service Employees International Union (SEIU por sus siglas en inglés), la cual representa al equipo de mantenimiento de St. Joe’s, ha llegado a un acuerdo tentativo con la compañía de mantenimiento Arthur Jackson para incrementar el sueldo de los empleados de limpieza de la universidad. Según Traci Benjamin, especialista en comunicaciones de la secta local de 32BJ, el acuerdo ha sido ratificado por los miembros de la unión.

Rose Weldon, miembra del equipo de mantenimiento de St. Joe’s desde el 2001, dijo que su representante de la unión le comunicó el pasado 18 de octubre que el salario por hora del equipo de mantenimiento de Saint Joseph’s será aumentado dentro de los próximos cuatro años. Este ahora será el mismo que el de otros trabajadores en el área de Filadelfia.

Actualmente, miembros de la 32BJ contratados para trabajar en otros locales en Filadelfia tienen un ingreso por hora de $18, mientras que empleados en St. Joe’s ganan menos de $15 por hora. Este salario más bajo es producto de una “disposición” dentro del contrato entre la Arthur Jackson Company y St. Joe’s.

“Estoy emocionada,” dijo Weldon durante su hora de almuerzo en Bellarmine Hall. “Hemos estado esperando esto por mucho tiempo. Simplemente estoy emocionada de que finalmente harán lo correcto.”

Según Benjamin, los detalles del acuerdo tentativo no han sido revelados todavía “porque los empleados no han tenido la oportunidad de ratificar el contrato en su totalidad, todavía falta un proceso de discusión y cambios.”

Este acuerdo viene tras que la 32BJ SEIU llegara a un acuerdo tentativo inicial con el representante de la Arthur Jackson Company, Building Operations Labor Relations (BOLR por sus siglas en inglés) el 15 de octubre, como método de eliminar el potencial de huelga. Los miembros de la unión tampoco han ratificado este acuerdo, dice Benjamin.

Weldon fue electa como el enlace sindical de la 32BJ en el 2008, lo cual significa que ella funge como la agente de sobre 50 empleados de mantenimiento de St. Joe's que son actualmente representados por la SEIU. Weldon atribuye este acuerdo tentativo a una manifestación celebrada en el campus de la universidad este pasado 10 de octubre, donde estudiantes, profesores, administradores y empleados se unieron a los miembros de 32BJ para abogar el derecho de los empleados de mantenimiento de recibir el mismo salario que demás empleados de la Arthur Jackson Company.

“Todo el mundo sabe lo que ha estado ocurriendo estos últimos años,” Weldon dijo.

“Saben que ahora esto no se va a ir para ningún lado, hasta que el acuerdo sea finalizado.”

Weldon dice que el apoyo de la comunidad universitaria le da sentimiento.

“El día de la manifestación, vi tanta compasión y tanta amabilidad,” dijo Weldon.

“Hablo con mucha gente aquí y sé cómo se sienten, pero esto fue mucho más allá de aquellos a los cuales conozco personalmente.”

La manifestación fue organizada por la 32BJ SEIU con el apoyo de Hawks for Just Employment, una organización estudiantil que aboga por los derechos de los trabajadores del campus.

Luego de la manifestación, Stephanie Crispell ‘20, una de las líderes de Hawks for Just Employment, le entregó una petición con 84 firmas al presidente de la universidad Mark C. Reed, Ed.D., haciendo un llamado para que la universidad se solidarice con su equipo de limpieza. En ese momento, Reed

no se encontraba en su oficina, pero su asistente recibió la petición en su nombre.

Gail Benner, directora de relaciones públicas de St. Joe’s, dijo en un correo electrónico, “la universidad ha estado al tanto de la situación involucrando salarios adecuados por bastante tiempo” y que esperan que recomendaciones en cuanto qué hacer al respecto sean finalizadas el próximo semestre.

“El comité ad hoc Just Employment fue organizado en el 2018 y ha estado en proceso de redactar una propuesta para comunicar la posición de la universidad en cuanto a salarios adecuados, lo cual incluiría recomendaciones para cómo negociar contratos en el futuro,” escribió Benner en un correo electrónico. “Además, este pasado verano, el departamento de recursos humanos comenzó a llevar a cabo un análisis comprensivo de compensaciones.”

Joy Woodall ha formado parte del equipo de mantenimiento de St. Joe’s por los pasados 19 años, manteniendo edificios como LaFarge Hall, Sourin Hall, Lannon

y Rashford Apartments limpios. Woodall dice que ella vive de cheque en cheque, y que por ende un aumento en salario pudiera hacer “mucho más” para ella.

“Nosotros hacemos mucho aquí, especialmente durante el verano,” dijo Woodall.

“En el verano, estamos limpiando estufas, duchas y bañeras, neveras y esencialmente de todo, y todavía cobramos lo mismo.”

Según Weldon, la comunidad de St. Joe’s es “compasiva, amable y atenta” al nivel de que ella recibe tarjetas de cumpleaños y días festivos.

Sin embargo, Weldon dice que cree que ella y sus compañeros de trabajo “se merecen lo que se merecen” cuando se trata de salario. Enfatizó el hecho de que cuando finalmente se finalice el acuerdo tentativo, “las cosas van a mejorar.”

“Son solo unos dólares más, pero será un salario conducente a una mejor vida,” dijo Weldon. “Podré hacer un poco más, ahorrar un poco más. Miraré mi cheque, y estaré feliz.”

Miembros del equipo de mantenimiento de St. Joe's marcharon por el campus para reclutar partidarios a su causa mientras intentan negociar mejores condiciones contractuales.

PHOTO: LUKE MALANGA ’20/THE HAWK

6

Oct. 23, 2019

News

The Hawk Newspaper

Public Safety releases 2019 annual security report CARLY CALHOUN ’21 Assistant News Editor The 2019 annual security and fire safety reports released Sept. 30 by St. Joe’s Office of Public Safety and Security show that since 2016 the number of reported alcohol and drug violations in on-campus student housing and facilities has decreased, while the number of reported rapes has increased.

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act of 1998 requires that campuses like St. Joe’s make their annual security reports available to the campus community and to the public. The report includes statistics on reported sexual assaults, drug and alcohol violations and other instances of crime on and around campus. The purpose of the report is to measure the amount of crime that occurs on a campus in order to inform students, faculty and prospective members of the St. Joe’s community.

According to statistics, the number of reported rapes in on-campus student housing and facilities increased from one in 2017 to seven in 2018. In 2016, there

were three reported rapes. Mary-Elaine Perry, Title IX coordinator at St. Joe’s, said the number of reported rapes is typically between eight and 12, but what gets recorded in the annual security report is only on-campus incidents.

“Typically, more assaults occur, more activity that results in the reporting of an assault occurs off campus,” Perry said. “We had more [reports] on campus than off campus [in 2018]. So there were not more reports, they were within the general ballpark, there were just more on campus.”

According to Perry, it isn’t possible to document the exact number of rapes that occur on campus since the fire and safety report only includes rapes that were voluntarily reported by students. Perry said during the campus climate survey done in the spring of 2018, students were asked to say if they had experienced unwanted sexual contact and not reported it.

“Eighty-eight percent said they didn’t report to anyone,” Perry said. “And that’s sad. I want to be able to get them to people that can help them to deal with it, in whatever way they want to deal with it.”

In addition to reports of rape, the

fire and safety reports also include drug and alcohol incidents that occur on and around campus.

Marci Berney, director of student outreach and support, said the reports include statistics that show a decline from 2016 to 2018 in the number of alcohol and drug violations.

“We have seen, just through our data, that the numbers look good,” Berney said.

“The numbers of students who are either choosing not to drink, or certainly students who are choosing to drink in a more responsible way, are all going in the right direction.”

Berney works with the Wellness, Alcohol & Drug Education Program (WADE) to provide support and education to current and incoming students about safe and responsible alcohol practices. Now, she said there is a new trend of students across the country drinking less, and that data is reflected in the St. Joe’s population.

“Nationally there’s been a bit of a shift and an increase in the number of non-drinkers coming to campuses throughout the country,” Berney said. “The number of students who are not drinking is on the rise, even prior to coming to campus, and we’ve seen the same here at St. Joe’s.”

In the report, Public Safety documented the number of on-campus alcohol incidents in student housing. From 2016 to 2018, the number of on-campus reported alcohol incidents decreased from 428 to 274, and the number of on-campus reported drug incidents decreased from 113 to 73.

Berney said this significant decrease cannot be attributed to a singular variable, but hopes it can be partially attributed to the university’s educational efforts.

“One is the education that students get coming into the university, so both at orientation as well as an online program that students do around alcohol, drugs, including prescription drug use, [and] sexual misconduct,” Berney said.

Ashley Lillie, assistant director of student outreach and support, said the fire and safety report allows students to understand and recognize declines and trends in crime and safety on campus. “[The report] serves as a great assessment piece for us as well to say there has been a decrease in this, ” Lillie said. “It’s an important piece when we’re looking at all of the things that impact our students and impact their wellness.”

Statistics courtesy of St. Joe's Office of Public Safety and Security. GRAPHIC: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

Professors form environmental learning community LUCY HIGGINS ’20 Hawk Staff Two university professors are spearheading a group for faculty to discuss environmental issues and facilitate conversations in the classroom.

Clint Springer, Ph.D., associate professor of biology and director of environmental science and sustainability studies, and Robert Daniel, Ph.D., assistant professor of modern and classical languages, are working with the Office of Teaching and Learning (OTL) to form a learning community on environmental justice.

“Having a group of faculty from many different disciplines talk about environmental justice and what it means on our campus specifically should have [a] lasting impact on the way we teach,” said Usha Rao, Ph.D., director of the OTL. Earlier this year, the Jesuits announced four universal apostolic preferences to guide Jesuits around the world in their mission over the next decade. Inspired by one of the preferences, “care for our common home,” which is connected to environmental protection and sustainability, Rao said she decided to form a learning community on environmental justice at St. Joe’s.

The Jesuits’ new guiding themes also resonated with Springer.

“If you think about our Catholic and Jesuit identity and you think about the things that we’re hearing from the Catholic Church and from the Jesuit order, we have a responsibility to respond to that,” Springer said.

Daniel said he knows some faculty across campus are already engaged in this work in their own classrooms, but the learning community gives them a chance to come together, share and learn from one another.

“What we learn can help us teach particular issues or think about things in a way that enriches our teaching,” Daniel said. “Maybe somebody has some really cool activity or strategy and you use it in your own course.

That’s the value of a learning community. We can learn from each other.”

Jeffrey Hyson, Ph.D., assistant professor of history, said he plans to participate regularly in the new learning community.

“When I saw the call, I reacted because one of my areas of teaching and research expertise is environmental history,” Hyson said.

Hyson said he aims to bring local examples of environmental crises into classroom discourse as much as possible.

“Just over the course of summer we saw natural disasters,” Hyson said. “And we’re

Clint Springer, Usha Rao and Robert Daniel. PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

still right now seeing natural disasters doing particular damage to the most vulnerable communities.”

Springer said the group plans to begin meeting in the next month and welcomes all faculty to attend.

“We’re all professional teachers, and we all have perspectives about how to communicate the importance of this issue effectively and to find out how it applies to our various fields,” Springer said.

News

The Hawk Newspaper

Oct. 23, 2019

7

SJUPride holds panel to educate campus ANNIE MEKO ’22 Special to The Hawk Dozens of students gathered in the Forum Theater on Oct. 16 for “Queeries,” an event allowing students to submit their questions to a panel of LGBTQIA+ students.

The event was part of Unity Month, which takes place throughout October and includes events such as Queeries to educate St. Joe’s faculty, staff and students on LGBT issues and allow students in the LGBT community to have their voices heard.

Maggie Nealon ’20, president of SJUPride and a panelist for the event, said the panel is about helping both allies and those in the LGBT community learn in a safe and anonymous environment.

“Sometimes there’s this culture of, ‘Should I ask that? Should I not ask that? I don’t know if I can ask that,’” Nealon said.

“So we wanted to have a place where people could anonymously and safely ask these questions and get the answers that will help them learn.”

The panel of five students took anonymous questions from the audience through a facilitated online form which was open for the duration of the panel. Questions ranged from experiences on campus and with family, to intersectionalities of race, gender and religion.

In all of their answers and follow up discussions, the panelists emphasized the importance of events like Queeries on campus and the need for more education for everyone at St. Joe’s. Some panelists

The panel included, from left to right, Paul Ammons ’20, Liam O’Neill ’20, Missy Leonardi ’20, Maggie Nealon ’20 and Jordon Constantino ’22.

PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

even shared experiences of marginalization and feeling unsafe in classrooms. Nealon said that sharing these occurrences is important to alerting the university about what is happening.

“People may not be aware of some things that people are faced with in class or with the administration that have been damaging to them,” Nealon said. I think it’s important for people to know that these things do happen on campus.”

Each panelist discussed their personal journey through discovering their identities,

their coming out experiences and how being on a college campus has changed them. Nealon said she is in a very different mindset than she was in her first year at St. Joe’s.

“It’s taken a lot of growth for me to get to where I am today, so I wanted to acknowledge that and speak to that,” Nealon said.

Maggie Mallison ’21, secretary for SJUPride, attended the event and said it is significant that the panel took questions from anyone in the audience.

“I think it was important for everyone who’s an ally in the audience because you

got to ask the questions to a gay person that you’ve never had the courage to ask, but you want to know,” Mallison said.

Missy Leonardi ’20, a panelist for the event, said events like Queeries are about LGBT visibility and acceptance within the St. Joe’s community. “[It’s about] letting people know that we’re here, we’re valid, we’re present, and we are around whether that’s obvious or not,” Leonardi said. “[It’s about] just letting people know that we’re here and we’re people, too.”

Commuter students feel disrespected after incident CHARLEY REKSTIS ’20 Senior Editor When Sierra Long ’21 left the commuter lounge on Oct. 11, the Friday before fall break, she felt confident she had cleaned the space perfectly for the first student to return the next week.

That changed when she received a text at 9 p.m. on Oct. 11 with photos and a video of the lounge in disarray. Ottomans and side tables were stacked to the ceiling, leftover glow sticks from their Area 51 movie event were hung up in an outlet and on sprinklers, and a canvas that was painted by a commuter was missing.

There was also a note left on the white board that said, “Sorry not sorry. Sincerely, C-man.”

“I felt disrespected because I treat this like

my home,” said Long, vice president of Hawks in Flight, a student organization for commuter students. “It is my home because I am probably in this lounge more than I am at my own house.”

The incident is currently in the community standards process with peer review board hearings for the students involved happening sometime this week.

“Based on any incident, we have a community standards process,” said Cary Anderson, Ed.D., vice president and associate provost of Student Life. “We don’t really discuss any details of that or the outcome. We are not able to do that.”

Marharyta Mashliakevich ’22, commuter-at-large senator for University Student Senate, approached The Hawk and said she was one of four students involved in the incident

and wanted to tell “the second side of the incident.”

“I did it,” Mashliakevich said. “The intentions behind it was not to hurt anyone. I was going to publicly apologize before those people who actually got hurt and anyone who felt unsafe.”

Mashliakevich said she understands the irony of her current leadership position on Student Senate.

“I’m part of senate representing commuters, as ridiculous as that sounds,” Mashliakevich said.

The commuter lounge, located in the back of The Perch, is a home away from home for many commuters at St. Joe’s.

“This is like our dorm room, so the fact that somebody came in here and did what they did to the lounge, with that note, it was really

The Hawks in Flight executive board (from left to right) Long Huynh ’21, Fatmata Sakho ’21, Makiah Stephens ’22, Elizabeth Le ’21, and Sierra Long ’21, sit in front of the canvas that was taken off the wall. PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

baffling,” said Makiah Stephens ’22, publicist of Hawks in Flight. “There is no reason why people should feel okay with destroying our space, especially since we worked so hard to make it the way it is now.”

Over the years, the lounge has been redecorated with a new paint job, framed photographs, furniture reupholstered in denim and a painted canvas.

“It is something we have an emotional attachment to,” Long said. “One of our other commuters painted the canvas and a few of us cut some pictures out of a magazine that represented us as commuters, how we felt as commuters, our experience as commuters here at St. Joe’s or how we felt in the lounge.”

Fatmata Sakho ’21, president of Hawks in Flight, said this isn’t the first time the commuters’ space has been violated. Things have been stolen from the lounge, clubs have taken furniture out of the lounge without asking and commuter students have been asked to leave the space when there are events in The Perch, according to Sakho.

“People assume the commuter lounge is a part of The Perch, and it’s not,” Sakho said.

“People come through here and do whatever they want in here, and they don’t realize that people actually utilize this space. We don’t have anywhere else where we belong on campus.”

Nancy Komada, Ph.D., director of the Office of Student Transitions, whose office is in the lounge, was instrumental in securing the space for the commuters.

“They do feel like outcasts,” Komada said.

“I think it is good they have this place here. We talk it up at orientation that this is their space.

They feel like this is their space.”

Sakho said she has been touched by the support the commuters have received from the St. Joe’s community through social media.

“I’m glad it reached the SJU community, and it made me realize there are a lot of people on this campus who their perception is a little skewed for me,” Sakho said. “I’ve always seen residence students as one way and commuter students another way. After this incident, it showed me that people are good people no matter who they are, and if they do want to help out, they will help out.”

8

Oct. 23, 2019

The Hawk Newspaper

Opinions

Another racial bias incident

Systemic problem remains unaddressed

Editor in Chief Luke Malanga ’20 Managing Editor Emily Graham ’20 Copy Chief Kaila Mundell-Hill ’20 Faculty Adviser Shenid Bhayroo Contributing Adviser Jenny Spinner Senior Editor Charley Rekstis ’20 Digital Managing Editor Alex Hargrave ’20 Copy Editor Angelique Frazier ’20 Copy Editor Jackie Collins ’21 News Editor Cara Smith ’21 Assistant News Editor Carly Calhoun ’21 Opinions Editor Devin Yingling ’22 Assistant Opinions Editor Hadassah Colbert ’20

An unknown person wrote the N-word on the white board on a resident’s door in LaFarge Hall. St. Joe’s Office of Public Safety and Security responded and began an investigation, reporting the incident as a “bias incident regarding person(s) unknown writing offensive graffiti on a student’s door” on Oct. 5. The incident was included in the Public Safety reports in the Oct. 9 issue of The Hawk.

In response to the incident, the St. Joe’s community received an email from Interim Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer Wadell Ridley. The email reported two separate incidences as follows: “...it is disappointing to learn of recent incidents of bias and exploitation. In the last few weeks, we have had two such incidents on campus whiteboards: one involving racist language and a second involving a sexually explicit drawing.”

There is no doubt that racial bias incidents are “disappointing,” to put it lightly, and yes, this community would like to see this incident investigated and the perpetrator(s) made to answer for their actions.

The administration needs to address acts of racism, systemic racism and racial inequality on this campus. Instead of waiting for someone to be called the N-word, or like last fall when a racial slur was written on a felt board on the door of two black female students, the administration needs to take action and openly discuss the racial injustices on this campus.

Not enough has changed following the initial racial slur incident reported in the Nov. 28, 2018 issue of The Hawk, and if the university doesn’t take more decisive actions to address and communicate these issues, the status quo will continue to be upheld.

In The Hawk’s investigations, and through conversations with the student body, we have discovered that many in

the St. Joe’s community are waiting for the university to directly address systemic racism and continued racial inequality.

The first step in directly addressing individual acts of racism, systemic racism and racial inequality on campus is for University President Mark C. Reed, Ed.D., and the Board of Trustees to invest time and money into hiring a permanent chief inclusion and diversity officer who is supported and fundamentally empowered by university administration.

The second step is for the administration to be transparent with this community.

If a racial bias incident occurs and is reported, it should be clearly and directly communicated. It’s not “graffitti,” it’s an overt act of racism: someone wrote the N-word on another student’s property.

It must be clearly communicated by the administration that racial slurs, microaggressions and any acts of racism will not be tolerated on our campus. Repercussions for these acts of racism need to be outlined as well, in order to both deter future incidents and to put action behind the words of the administration.

The administration needs to address acts of racism, systemic racism and racial inequality by taking preliminary action and openly discussing the racial injustices on this campus.

There is not a single reason to wait until another racial bias incident occurs to address acts of racism, systemic racism and racial inequality on a majority white campus, and we have previously made suggestions for the administration to implement more substantive programs to address racism.

If a university created by white, male Jesuit leaders can encompass a mission in pursuit of social justice and strive “to be an inclusive and diverse community,” then it behooves the current administration to recognize that transparency and substantive

actions are key to beginning to dismantle systemic racism and racial inequality.

We will not stand for emails from the administration that do not address the systemic issues on this campus, nor will we sit idly by and watch this university wait for a bias incident to occur before racism is addressed. This university’s mission is to promote social justice and care for all people.

It’s time the university starts stepping up and supporting marginalized groups without reservation.

We should not have to report on racial bias incidents every semester. However, we will continue to report them until every possible action is taken on the part of the students and administration here to address the culture of racial injustice on this campus; the antithesis of this university’s core mission and values.

The administration continues not to address the paradoxical relationship between racial injustice and the mission of this institution. Even if nobody else will continue the conversation exposing the racial climate of this school, we will continue to do our duty as journalists to inform our readers of these acts of racism and any inadequate responses to acts of racism.

—The Editorial Board

This week’s Editorial Board is comprised of the Managing Editor, Digital Managing Editor, Special Projects Editor, Copy Editors, Photo Editor, Sports Editor, Assistant Features Editor, and Opinions Editor. This editorial reflects the views of the Board and not the entire Hawk staff.

The Hawk welcomes Letters to the Editor, typically no more than 300 words. They can be emailed to hawk.editorial@gmail.com.

Features Editor Kaitlyn Patterson ’20 Assistant Features Editor Zach Dobinson ’22 Sports Editor Sam Britt ’20 Assistant Sports Editor Ryan Mulligan ’21 Assistant Sports Editor Matt DeLeo ’20 Special Projects Editor Nick Karpinski ’21

Letter to the Editor To the Editor:

Regarding a Letter to the Editor response in the Oct. 9, 2019 issue of The Hawk Newspaper by George P. Sillup, Ph.D., I concur that the topic of gun violence and mass shootings in the United States is an urgent topic warranting discussion. Ascertaining the perspectives of international students is

equally important in determining how citizens of the world view Americans regarding said topic.

But if the choice of the editorial staff to include the uncensored response of the student Sillup singled out in his letter is inappropriate, then the same should be said of Sillup’s statement that the paper should “not descend to the level of the person be-

ing interviewed.” Are we now making value judgments of an individual based upon something personally or professionally deemed inappropriate?

Michael D. Brooks ’10, M.A. Francis A. Drexel Library Staff

Photo Editor Mitchell Shields ’22 Online Editor Alex Mark ’20 Social Media Manager Natalie Drum ’20 Assistant Social Media Manager Julia Koerwer ’23 Business Manager Angela DiMarco ’22 Assistant Business Manager Collin Messenger ’22 Distribution Manager Gavin O'Reilly ’20

Letter to the Editor In support of Arthur Jackson workers:

I applaud and support the rally last Thursday by Arthur Jackson workers and their supporters to advocate for a more liveable wage.

I was deeply troubled, however, when The Hawk reported that Arthur Jackson workers delivering their petition were met at Regis by the head of security. We often talk about St. Joe’s as a “community” or a “family,” without thinking critically about those metaphors. Do you meet a member of your family who disagrees with you at the door and not let them in? Do you lock

community members out? Does a just community respond to disagreement with fear?

“Creating community,” critical race theorist Patricia Williams writes, “involves this most difficult work of negotiating real divisions . . . of pondering our differences before we can ever agree on the terms of our sameness.” To create a just community at St. Joe’s, we must recognize the systemic injustice of underpaying Arthur Jackson workers and stand in solidarity with them.

Since the president was not available to meet with Arthur Jackson workers, then the cleaners could have been welcomed into Regis by an appropriate substitute. To

meet people who work with us every day with security shows just how far from the magis we are.

For a predominantly white institution to meet mostly black and brown service workers with fear highlights the systemic, color blind racism that is of a piece with how St. Joe’s deals with matters of race in general. We must do better.

In solidarity, Ann E. Green, Ph.D. Professor of English

Opinions

The Hawk Newspaper

Oct. 23, 2019 9

Almost is never enough

LGBTQIA+ rights stand before the Supreme Court

ZACH DOBINSON ’22 Guest Columnist The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) decided to hear three cases relating to LGBTQIA+ rights in the workplace. The cases currently being heard on this topic are Gerald Lynn Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia; Altitude Express v. Melissa Zarda; and R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

For those who may not know, these cases deal with whether or not it is legal for someone to be fired from their job based on their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

Currently, there is no federal law explicitly stating whether or not this is legal.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (1964) only prevents workplace discrimination on the basis of sex, race, color, religion and national origin. What is currently being argued is if Title VII includes protections on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation.

Here’s a quick rundown on the ABCs of LGBT: Sex refers to what someone is assigned at birth as based on their external anatomy. Gender identity refers to someone’s perception of themselves, something that may or may not align with the sex they were assigned at birth. Sexual orientation refers to someone who is emotionally, romantically or sexually attracted to.

There are currently only 21 states (as well as territories Guam, Puerto Rico and Washington D.C.) where it is explicitly prohibited to discriminate against someone because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. That means that more than half of the country allows for LGBT people to be discriminated against by employers.

There is no give or take compromise

here. Simply give people their civil rights and be done with it.

The fact that someone’s right to carry is more protected than my right to marry is not only disappointing, but downright horrifying. Objects have more protection than certain human beings.

Many people thought civil rights for LGBT people were won in 2015 with the legalization of gay marriage. This was only the tip of the iceberg. A common phrase goes, “Married on Sunday, fired on Monday.”

There can never be enough legislation in favor of minority communities because we will always face oppression to some degree from the majority. We don’t have the numbers to protect ourselves, and that is why we should have the legislation on our side.

I understand that a counterargument to the right of LGBT employees to feel secure in the workplace is the religious freedom of others. But at what point should someone’s reli-

gious freedom be prioritized over my innate freedom to exist and not be discriminated against? Answer me that. I beg you to because I’ve been wondering that question for most of my life.

This issue hits closer to home than many realize. Last year, I heard f-----t come out of different straight guy’s mouths every day on this campus, and I’m not exaggerating. I think about my identity on this campus everyday: a queer man on Catholic grounds.

These cases before the SCOTUS mean so much more than being able to have a job. It is about finally being able to feel safe wherever I work. It is about being able to share your identity with others. It is about being able to breathe and not worry about what might happen to me when I’m working.

The only thing someone should have to worry about at work is if they’ll be able to show up on time and perform well. They shouldn’t have to worry about existing.

I spent the majority of my childhood honestly wishing I wasn’t different; wishing I was safe, rather than wishing to be happy.

I am not alone. Being different in this country is something that gets people exiled, fired and/or killed. When I say different, I mean any identity that is different from a straight, white, cisgender male.

I’m only one category different than that and yet, I feel a suffocating amount of stress.

I can’t even imagine what those who are entirely different from that standard go through on a daily level.

If no federal law is passed preventing workplace discrimination on the basis of gender identy or sexual orientation, then we are simply regressing back into a “don’t ask, don’t tell” society. It’s time we evolved past that kind of society and move towards a future in which equality encompasses the rights of all people.

ILLUSTRATION: KAITLYN PATTERSON ’20/THE HAWK

Abortion access faces the Supreme Court The implications of June Medical Services v. Gee REGINA SCHLIEP ’23 Columnist The Supreme Court announced on Oct. 4 that it will hear June Medical Services v.

Gee, a case that challenges a 2014 Louisiana law requiring abortion providers to have admitting privleges at hospitals within 30 miles of the provider.

Those who support the law claim that its purpose is to protect women so if complications from their procedure arise, they will have access to hospital care. This is the first case concerning abortion that the court will hear with newly appointed Justice Brett Kavanaugh on the bench.

Although Roe v. Wade sets a nationwide precedent that protects abortion accsess, laws similar to the one being challenged in June Medical Services v. Gee are rampant through state governments in the United States.

Their purpose, although often claimed to protect the health of women, is merely to make it more difficult for women to get an abortion altogether. They are a segway to getting rid of Roe v. Wade, whether through actual overturn of legislation or making abortion restrictions so prevelant that abortions

are almost impossible to obtain.

A nearly identical case to June Medical Services v. Gee, Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, was brought to the Supreme Court in 2016. The landmark Texas bill also challenged the mandating of clinics to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the clinic. The court ruled that doctors with admitting privileges at a nearby hospital put an “undue burden” on women who were forced to drive hundreds of miles to an open clinic to undergo the procedure.

The principles of both June Medical Services v. Gee and Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt are incredibly similar. However, a critical difference between the two cases are the justices on the bench of the Supreme Court. Since Whole Woman’s Health, Donald Trump has appointed two justices who are overwhelmingly likely to side with conservative ideals concerning abortion.

June Medical Services v. Gee may be the start to making access to abortion as difficult as it was before Roe v. Wade came into law.

The nature of June Medical Services v.

Gee poses a direct challenge to women and their rights to their own bodies. While these laws appear to make abortions safer, they are just in place to make abortions more difficult to obtain.

In Linda Greenhouse’s piece for The New

York Times, she emphasizes, “The requirement is nothing more than a ploy to enable a state to destroy the abortion infrastructure while pretending to be protecting the very women whose constitutional right the requirement is eviscerating.”

These laws are not made to protect women. Requiring that clinics receive “admitting privileges” forces clinics to shut down, resulting in fewer clinics within a state, and making it a long and costly trip for a woman to get an abortion.

Viewing restrictions such as admitting privileges as a protection is simply ignorant; these laws are an attack on women.

I can’t help but look at these cases and be scared. I can’t help but fear for my body, and the bodies of other women, because they are being treated as political war ground by politicians. I especially can’t help this feeling after reading Chanel Miller’s new novel, “Know My Name,” a memoir discussing her assault and the shortcomings of the legal system in handling her case.

Miller’s novel describes her emotional journey of being a rape survivor. I can’t help but think of all the women like Miller, whose bodies have been invaded. All the women who are impregnated as a result, and will be forced to keep a child of their rapist due to the progression of restrictive abortion laws, that don’t

exclude instances of rape or incest, merely forcing a further violation on their bodies.

These laws and cases pose the threat down the road to completely end abortion access without ever banning the procedure itself.

I’m aware of the morals of the Jesuit community and that I attend an institution whose leaders may be opposed to my opinions. But the Jesuit community prides itself on intellectual rigor and debate among a diversity of opinions, and I will participate in this discourse until women’s bodies are not being governed by anyone but themselves.

ILLUSTRATION: KAITLYN PATTERSON ’20/THE HAWK

10

Oct. 23, 2019

Opinions

The Hawk Newspaper

The voiceless American women

Bringing attention to the struggles of Native Women HADASSAH COLBERT ’20 Assistant Opinions Editor Oct. 14 marked what some may call Columbus Day. However, I prefer to call it Indigenous Peoples Day, as more people are starting to do.

Calling this date Columbus Day erases the identity and history of millions of Indigenous peoples, and more times than not, Native American women are erased as well.

Native Americans are a demographic that are often ignored or are told to be quiet. I’m sure plenty of Americans would love to keep them down as simply caricatures such as mascots and the friendly welcomers of Pilgrims, but that is not the reality.

It is time America starts to pay for the egregious acts committed against Native Americans. I would like to contribute to this effort by bringing attention to America’s voiceless women: Native and Indigenous women.

My first introduction to the atrocities Native American women face was during high school when I read Mary Brave Bird’s “Lakota Woman.” In her memoir, she chronicles growing up on the Rosebud Indian Reservation, attending a horrifying Catholic missionary school and spending her time as an activist as part of the American Indian Movement. One story stood out in particular to me.

Brave Bird writes of when she gave birth during the siege at Wounded Knee in 1973, where 200 Lakota (Sioux) activists occupied Wounded Knee in protest of the conditions of their reservation. Wounded Knee was also the site of the massacre of Lakota men, women and children by U.S. army soldiers in 1890.

Brave Bird remarks on how she did not want to go to a white hospital because they were forcibly sterilizing Native American women. That cut me deep. It mirrored the struggle of women from my own racial group,

and it has stuck in my brain ever since.

Because many Native Americans were forced onto poverty stricken reservations or into urban areas, they relied on government organizations like the Indian Health Service (IHS).The IHS is responsible for providing

Sioux tribes of Plains.

The women were visiting from Red Cloud Indian School in South Dakota and came to speak about the alarming rate at which Native and Indigenous women are murdered or go missing in North America (including Cana-

ILLUSTRATION: ANISSA WILSON ’20/THE HAWK

“direct medical and public health services to members of federally-recognized Native American Tribes and Alaska Native people.”

Yet, they were instead sterilizing Native women for years. Per one example, according to an article by Jane Lawrence, from the University of Nebraska Press two 15-year-old Native American girls went into an operating room in an IHS hospital in Montana for tonsillectomies, but additionally received tubal ligations, also known as having one’s tubes tied, without their consent.

I was also exposed to the struggles of Native Women in November 2018 when I attended the Ignatian Family Teach-In For Justice in Washington, D.C. with Campus Ministry.

While at the conference, I went to a seminar led by young Lakota women, one of three

da). Hearing facts like “more than 40 Native women have been reported missing or murdered along the ‘Highway of Tears’ in British Columbia, Canada” really struck a chord with me. I told myself I would find a way to bring more attention to the plight of these women and girls.

Many Native women have to work on poverty stricken reservations and due to lack of transportation (either private or public), many women are forced to hitchhike which is very dangerous. Coming home late at night or going to work late at night on dark roads while hitchhiking is dangerous. This leads Native American women to be murdered and trafficked at higher rates than women of other ethnic groups.

According to the Urban Indian Health In-

stitute, around 5,712 Native women and girls were reported missing in 2016, but only 116 were logged by the U.S. Department of Justice’s federal missing persons database.

Also, for the last 35 years until more recent changes to the law were made, the United States legal system structure was purposely incongruent when paired with operations of the Native nations’ legal systems. Thus, domestic violence and rape cases often are ignored.

According to the Indian Law Resource centers “Ending Violence Against Native Women” proposal, “Indian nations were unable to prosecute non-Indians, who reportedly commit the vast majority (96%) of sexual violence against Native women.”

Moreover, “The Census Bureau reports that non-Native Americans now comprise 76% of the population on tribal lands and 68% of the population in Alaska Native villages.” Many Native women have married non-Native spouses.

According to the Indian Law Resource centers “Ending Violence Against Native Women” proposal, “Indian nations were unable to prosecute non-Indians, who reportedly commit the vast majority (96%) of sexual violence against Native women.”

These women rarely see their abusers brought to justice because the racially biased jurisdictional model of the U. S. deprives Native nations of the ability to protect their Native women. In fact, only 13% of sexual assaults reported by Native women result in arrest.

There are clear human rights violations against Native American women, and these injustices should be treated as such.

These women deserve a voice. I believe it is my duty as well as the duty of women of equal standing as me and above me to help raise these women up and bring attention to their struggles.

In the words of Audre Lorde, “I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.”

Discussing the rights of mothers

The impact of Warren’s pregnancy discrimination case MAGGIE BRENNEN ’22 Guest Columnist Sen. Elizabeth Warren, 2020 presidential candidate, made headlines recently for standing by her account of the way she was treated when she became pregnant during her time as a special needs educator.

She claims she was “asked not to return to teaching after a single year because she was ‘visibly pregnant’.”

The Washington Free Beacon, a conservative newspaper, found county records (1970) from Riverdale Elementary in Riverdale, New Jersey, showing that the school approved her return from maternity leave for the following year in April 1971. They also found minutes from a meeting the following June, indicating Warren had resigned.

The Jacobin magazine, a democratic-socialist magazine, also scrutinized Warren’s story when a journalist, who happens to be a strong Bernie Sanders supporter, looked at how the story had changed over the years.

In a 2007 interview, Warren said she didn’t think the job was going to work out.

Then in her 2014 book, she said the principal of the school did not invite her back for the

next year when she became visibly pregnant.

The child Warren was pregnant with at the time of this story was born in 1971.

That means the baby was seven years old by the time the Pregnancy Discrimination Act passed in 1978. Before that, it was perfectly legal for an employer to fire a woman on the sole basis of pregnancy.

This would explain why another teacher from Riverdale Elementary, Trudy Randall, told CBS news, “The rule was at five months you had to leave when you were pregnant.

This story is one Warren tells a lot on the campaign trail, but she cannot be expected to tell the same story verbatim each time, which is what critics of her story choose to focus on.

It is not an uncommon practice for politicians to have go-to stories to tell at campaign events, and it is also not uncommon for those stories to change.

While it has been 41 years since the Pregnancy Discrimination Act was put in place, and 49 years since Warren’s dillemma, expecting mothers and new mothers still face strug-

“Whether Warren is your first or last choice for the next President of the United States, it is important to recognize the significance of her story.”

Now, if you didn’t tell anybody you were pregnant, and they didn’t know, you could fudge it and try to stay on a little bit longer. But they kind of wanted you out if you were pregnant.”

This suggests there was not much difference between being fired and being forced to resign.

Additionally, if the school board had a choice of how to phrase the situation in their favor, it is no surprise that they chose to record Warren as resigning. This policy, spoken or unspoken, would also explain why Warren was hired back at four months pregnant but was shown the door two months later at six months pregnant.

gles at work.

In this era of mom-shaming, women feel like they can’t win because while their coworkers shame them for missing work, people in their community shame them for missing out on their childrens’ lives.

Maternity leave laws are also not ideal.

The only federal law concerning maternity leave is in the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, requiring certain employers to offer 12 weeks of unpaid leave following childbirth or adoption to moms or dads, making the U.S. one of only four countries that does not require all employers to offer paid leave.

Granted, there are state laws requiring paid leave and certain companies will offer paid leave without being required to do so.

But for a lot of families, going 12 weeks without pay is unmanageable, especially with the expenses of a new baby.

Whether Warren is your first or last choice for the next President of the United States, it is important to recognize the significance of her story.

Of course there are huge issues at stake in the next election, like gun control and climate change. But take a moment to research what each candidate has said about family leave and workplace discrimination reform, if they have said anything at all.

While family leave laws may not directly affect college students in the near future, they may eventually, and it clearly takes many years for these laws to be reformed.

If you’re absolutely, without a doubt, never having children, consider the person in your future workplace who will, and make family and work life a little more enjoyable for them.

This shouldn’t be a partisan issue.

Consider advocating for women, mothers and parents in the workplace to have a better experience than those of Warren or even your own parents.

Features

The Hawk Newspaper

Oct. 23, 2019

11

The cast of “Company” ponders friendship, love and marriage LILY STEELE ’22 Special to The Hawk SJU Theatre Company’s production of the musical comedy “Company” opens this week in Bluett Theatre.

With music and lyrics composed by Stephen Sondheim and a book by George Furth, “Company” premiered on Broadway in 1970. It was nominated for 14 Tony Awards and received six, including Best Musical in 1971.

“It has a great message about love and about finding a life partner,” said the show’s director Renee Dobson, M.F.A., associate professor of performing arts.

“Company” is set in New York City and follows Robert, who is called “Bobby,” and his friends. Bobby is single and unable to commit to a relationship. The musical revolves around Bobby’s 35th birthday celebration. A group of married friends and three girlfriends gather to celebrate and weigh in on his fear of commitment.

Samantha Jenkins ’21 plays the role of April, a naive flight attendant and one of Bobby’s girlfriends.

“It’s not like a traditional musical,” Jenkins said. “It’s more abstract, and it’s really entertaining. But then also towards the end, you learn some lessons along the way.

So, you’ll be laughing, but you’ll also be left

“Company” opens Oct. 24 at the Bluett Theatre. PHOTO COURTESY OF MELISSA KELLY PHOTOGRAPHY

with lots of stuff to think about afterwards.”

Dobson said she chose the show not only because it’s a Sondheim production but because of all of the female roles in the show for the many musical theatre majors

Moving Beyond Belief: poems and stories in conversation with Catholicism Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019 7 p.m.

Cardinal John P. Foley Campus Center

“Moving Beyond Belief: poems and stories in conversation with Catholicism” will feature poetry readings by Pádraig Ó Tuama and Marie Howe. A discussion will follow about writing through a Catholic lens, the transformative power of poetry, and giving voice through poetry to groups that are living on the margins of the Church.

Pádraig Ó Tuama is a theologian, poet, and author of several collections, including Sorry for Your Troubles. In his memoir, In the Shelter, he wrote about the paradox of being gay and Catholic. He is the former leader of the Corrymeela Community, which is Northern Ireland’s oldest peace and reconciliation community.

Marie Howe’s What the Living Do chronicles a Catholic childhood and her brother’s death from AIDS. She is an acclaimed poet and teacher, and the author of three additional volumes of poetry, including The Kingdom of Ordinary Time and Magdalene. From 2012-2014, Howe served as the Poet Laureate of New York.

Photo credit: Claire Holt

Sponsored by the Faith-Justice Institute’s Joseph William and Madeline Eberle Klein, the Alliance, and the English Department

who are women. But the challenge for these women is playing characters who are in their 30s, Dobson said.

“They have to work through and imagine what that would be like, and they

have to creatively find ways to connect with those situations,” Dobson said.

Jenn Tague ’20, who plays Joanne, a pessimist and the oldest of Bobby’s friends, said the show’s humor makes it a “great escape” but one that is also thought-provoking.

“It’s very reflective,” Tague said. “It shows everything that goes on with relationships looking through someone else’s eyes.”

Elise Welsh ’22, who plays the role of Sarah, a character learning karate and struggling with food and dieting, said the musical is about the connections among friends and partners.

“It’s a very good commentary on life and love and marriage,” Welsh said.

“Even if you’re not married, it’s still about friendships and relationships romantically. There’s a lot to be learned from the relationships that are shown on stage.

Jenkins said the musical’s focus on friendships and romantic relationships is why people, no matter who they are or where they are in life, should see the show.

“Anyone that comes see it, there is going to be at least one moment that they relate to and that hits close to home for them,” Jenkins said.

“Company” runs Oct. 24, 25, 26, Nov. 1 and Nov. 2, with performances beginning at 8 p.m. There is also a 2 p.m. matinee on Nov. 3.

12

Oct. 23, 2019

Features

The Hawk Newspaper

Eating disorders pose greater concerns for college students CHARLEY REKSTIS ’20 Senior Editor Students are more likely to develop an eating disorder in college because of the stressors and pressures that appear in college, according to Gregg Nicholls, Ph.D., director of Counseling and Psychological Service (CAPS).

A survey done by The National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R) in 2007 reported that the median age of onset for binge eating disorder was 21 years old and 18 years old for both bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa.

“Most eating disorders begin between the ages of 18-21,” Nicholls wrote in an email to The Hawk. “Environmental factors play a significant role. With so many students living together, comparing self to others is magnified. Plus students are leading very independent lives for the first time and irregular eating habits can

more easily develop.”

Alex Skolnick, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology, teaches classes about eating disorders and says college can be a more difficult time because parents are not present to push for healthy eating.

“College can be a difficult place because you’re no longer under the hospices of your parents and there’s really no one looking out for you except some friends and they notice, ‘Hey you’re getting really thin,’” Skolnick said. “But that might not always happen.”

Addy Volpe ’20 is one of 30 million people in the U.S. who suffer from an eating disorder.

“When I was going through that it wasn’t like I was purposefully not eating,” Volpe said. “It was ‘I’m not hungry so I’m not going to do it,’ and then I started having health problems.”

For Volpe, college made it more difficult for her to manage her eating disorder because of body perceptions and all the things she has to do in her day.

“With the stress level in college, I can

Casey Swann has previously utilized the Renfrew Center. PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

get away with not eating all day because I’m running around,” Volpe said. “I’m alone. My parents aren’t with me 24/7 to support me.

I have to rely on my friends. It’s definitely worse in college.”

Students who are suffering from body image or eating issues can be treated at CAPS. But those diagnosed with eating disorders are usually sent to outside treatment centers, according to Nicholls.

“Specialized and more intensive treatment is needed for students with diagnosed eating disorders,” Nicholls wrote. “We refer students to clinics and centers outside of Saint Joseph's University if that’s the case.

The Renfrew Center is a treatment facility in the area that we often refer students to.

Students are evaluated and different levels of treatment are recommended (inpatient, Intensive outpatient, therapy groups, etc).”

The Renfrew Center, a treatment center for women and adolescent girls who have eating disorders, opened a new facility in Center City in July because there was a request by colleges in Philadelphia for a location closer to their students.

“Given a full course load and sometimes student athletics the option of going over the bridge to our Mount Laurel site in southern New Jersey or getting on the R5 [Paoli/Thorndale regional rail] to go out to our Radnor site, the timing wasn’t working well,” said Kristin Szostak, the site director of the Renfrew Center of Philadelphia.

Szostak said the Renfrew Center does see a trend of college students coming to the center even though they treat women from ages 14-60.

“There is less structure in college transitioning from high school so it does require a lot of self imposed structure and discipline academically which is a significant change,” Szostak said. “That is often a factor that may lead to disordered eating

which can then become an eating disorder.”

Casey Swann, a current medical student at Thomas Jefferson University, went through the Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) at the Renfrew Center in 2011 and decided to seek help at Renfrew after she returned back from studying abroad in Italy and started to “spiral.”

“It was scary but the community that you meet when you’re at Renfrew is incredible,” Swann said. “Eating disorders are very isolating and it’s hard to express what you’re going through to other people who have never been through it because they’re disordered patterns of thinking. It’s not logical.”

Volpe agrees it’s hard to find people that understand what she is going through, and though she did not prefer the professional help route, she does like being able to talk to people who do understand.

“I’ve been through professional help and personally it makes me more anxious than talking to one of my peers,” Volpe said.

“I like the fact that there are treatment centers and things available to people that need them and want them. It’s in the back of my brain that I do have these resources.”

Swann went to treatment with the motivation that she wanted to go into her senior year at The College of William and Mary and graduate, which she did after going through IOP, a six week program, in 5 five weeks.

Volpe is currently in her senior year studying criminal justice. She knows her eating disorder won’t go away completely, but she is grateful that she has friends looking out for her.

“It’s never going to be suppressed just like depression or anxiety,” Volpe said.

“Anyone can do any route of medications or support groups that they want. I’m living with it for the rest of my life.”

Action teams provide sustainability for Net Impact JACKIE COLLINS ’21 Copy Editor Net Impact, a student-run organization that implements sustainable initiatives on campus, has revamped its organizational structure, dividing members into “action teams” in an effort to address members’ different interests and involve as many students as possible.

“I think part of the reason why we are naming these ‘action teams’ is because they are actionable items, and not so much ideas that will be events or something that is stagnant,” said Jeff Hunt ’20, co-president of Net Impact. “They have the ability to be shaped from year to year.”

Based on the passions and sustainability goals shared by attendees at one of their first meetings this fall, Net Impact members broke off into five different action teams: waste management, circular economy and sustainable living, community garden, the Emilia Wojtyla Shelter Bolivia partnership and the Institute of Clinical Bioethics (ICB) partnership.

Lydia Walker ’22, co-president of Net Impact, said she hopes this setup will encourage members to take charge and become enthusiastic about their individual ideas.

“We want to give [members] a plan of action and how to carry out their different initiatives, and then give them the tools to let them go off on their own and to be able to meet individually with their group, and then come back to report back on what they are doing,” Walker explained.

Net Impact is supported by the Pedro Arrupe, S.J. Center for Business Ethics, a resource with a stated goal of providing opportunities for student activities and

recognizing student achievement in business ethics. Tim Swift, Ph.D., associate professor of management and advisor to Net Impact, said Net Impact is the Arrupe Center’s primary vehicle for reaching out to and working with students.

“When I think of students, I think of Net Impact,” Swift said. “When I think of the Arrupe Center’s interest in students, I think of Net Impact.”

some ways polarized what the group was and kind of made it for themselves.”

Those leaders were primarily seniors who left no succession plan for future years.

This is a major reason why the club has gone through wavering “peaks and valleys” of activity for over a decade, Swift said. “[We] latched onto the fact that most of our students are into sustainability, so we need a sustainable model for Net Impact in-

Casey Swann went to the Renfrew Center before her senior year. PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

Hunt, a member of Net Impact since his first year at St. Joe’s, noted that exclusivity in previous leadership teams inevitably led to the lack of input from general members. The new structure is designed to address that, he said.

“I think there’s a little bit of an ironic nature to it being a group for mostly sustainability issues and it not being sustainable from year to year,” Hunt said. “The leaders in

volving students in all four class levels [firstyear] through senior, and making sure we have a succession plan,” Swift said.

To propel this model, Net Impact has also restructured its leadership team, electing two sophomores and two seniors for the positions. That way, the second-year leaders can carry on what was started in years to come.

Swift said he was impressed by how seriously younger leaders are taking the respon-

sibility of relaying the succession plan as they came to him with ideas of how to manage the club one, two and three years out.

“They’re visionaries,” Swift said. “They are thinking of things that I didn’t think men and women were capable of at this age. They are thinking five miles ahead instead of one week ahead. I just think they are naturally born leaders to be thinking in such long term.”

Olivia Cardarelli ’22, vice president of internal relations of Net Impact, said she sees a sense of passion, drive and leadership among all the general members that compose the action teams that should not go to waste.

“Our campus is full of leaders,” Carderelli said. “I believe that with them having a passion that they want to work so hard on, if they are immersed in that then they are going to have the motivation to keep that going.”

Club members are currently in contact with the Institute of Clinical Bioethics, which funds the clinical health treatments of undocumented immigrants in the Philadelphia area. Net Impact plans on collecting and analyzing data on these patients.

“My hope, our hope, is that we actually find real, tangible patterns in this data that improve people’s lives,” Swift said. “This is a big deal.”

None of the sustainability initiatives have been implemented on campus or within the partnerships, but they are at a stage where there’s discussion on how the action teams can actually put these ideas into play, Hunt said.

“The goal is that Net Impact will carry on from year to year and also it’s about putting a lot of thoughts and dreams about ethically minded business practices or what sustainability is, as a fad word, into action,” Hunt said.

Features

The Hawk Newspaper

Oct. 23, 2019

13

Students host English conversation group for university staff Program part of advocacy efforts for workers GEORGE STEINHOFF ’21 Special to The Hawk Lindsay Norton ’20 stood at the front of a conference room in Campion Student Center, pointing to a whiteboard where the time “12:30 p.m.” was written.

“Cómo se dice en inglés?” Norton asked.

Two St. Joe’s workers at the back of the room quietly discussed possible answers.

Then, one sat up slightly taller and responded, “12:30 or half past 12 in the afternoon.”

“Sí, bien,” Norton acknowledged.

Norton, along with Maggie Maguire ’20 and Chase Bernier ’21, lead an English tutoring group for St. Joe’s workers every Friday in Campion. The event is coordinated by Campus Ministry.

The tutoring sessions were originally Norton’s idea. She had previously been involved in a program at her high school where she tutored local Spanish-speaking individuals at a parish near her school.

“When I spoke with Campus Ministry, we talked about how there are a lot of Spanish-speaking housekeeping workers here, and so that was a need right here in our community,” Norton said. “Once I started working with them, I saw how much of a need it was, especially just for basic communication with their boss. It’s really tough for them.”

The program, which is in its third year, also has ties to Hawks for Just Employment, a university group that advocates for the rights and proper treatment of university workers and that stresses the importance of building relationships with workers.

Beth Ford McNamee, assistant director of Campus Ministry, said the tutoring group is connected to one of the core missions of Campus Ministry: building community.

“It’s great to build community with people who normally wouldn’t get the chance to speak with them,” McNamee said.

That has been one of the positives

Lindsay Norton ’20 teaches a lesson to two university employees. PHOTO: LESLIE QUAN ’22/THE HAWK

for Bernier.

“I think I’ll gain a better knowledge of the people I’m working with, and for the other participants,” Benrier said. “We’ll gain a bond, a connection and a relationship.”

Carlo Cinaglia, visiting instructor of English as a second language (ESL), Spanish and linguistics, said English is especially challenging to teach and learn because it has so many exceptions.

“It’s almost like ‘okay, here’s the rule and here’s 10 examples of the rule, and here are the 40,000 exceptions you have to know,” Cinaglia said.

Despite these challenges, Norton said many of the workers in the group possess a strong desire to learn English, evidenced by their willingness to give up their lunch break to learn the language.

Cinaglia said he observes the same desire in many adult English learners he works with.

“One thing I’ve found with adult learners, while they do face difficulties with learning to pronounce things and learning new words, they make up for it or compensate for it with an extremely high motivation,” Cinaglia said.

Already, Norton said she has experienced some of the important “ah ha” moments that come with language tutoring.

“You can tell when something clicks for them, when they understand something,” Norton said. “It’s the best feeling.”

The workers in attendance also acknowledged the group’s benefits.

“They have helped in the daily life in my job and help me communicate with my boss and my co-workers,” said worker Gloria Flores through a translator.

Estudiantes lideran tutorías para empleados de la universidad Apoyando los esfuerzos de los trabajadores luchando por sus derechos GEORGE STEINHOFF ’21 Special to The Hawk CAROLINA GONZÁLEZ ’20 Translator Lindsay Norton ’20 se encontraba parada en la parte de alfrente de un salón de conferencias en el Campion Student Center, apuntando a una pizarra, donde estaba escrita la hora: “12:30 p.m.”

“Cómo se dice en inglés?” preguntó Norton.

Dos empleados de Saint Joseph’s University, sentados en la parte trasera del salón, discutían posibles respuestas en voz baja. Luego, uno de ellos, sentándose más derecho y en voz alta, respondió, “12 y media, o half past 12 de la tarde.”

“Sí, bien,” dijo Norton.

Norton, junto a Maggie Maguire ’20 y Chase Bernier ’21, dirigen un grupo de tutorías de inglés para trabajadores de la universidad, el cual se reúne todos los viernes en Campion Student Center. Este evento es coordinado por Campus Ministry.

Estas sesiones de tutoría originalmente fueron idea de Norton. Anteriormente, ella había estado involucrada en un programa en su escuela secundaria, donde ella le proveía tutorías a miembros hispanoparlantes de su parroquia.

“Cuando discutí esta idea con Campus Ministry, hablamos sobre cómo hay una multitud de empleados de limpieza que hablan español, y que había la necesidad de un programa así aquí mismo, dentro de nuestra comunidad,” dijo Norton. “Luego de que empecé a trabajar con ellos, vi cuánto lo necesitaban, especialmente para que [ellos] aprendan cómo comunicarse de la forma más básica con sus jefes. Es muy difícil para ellos.”

El programa, el cual se encuentra en su tercer año, también ha forjado lazos con Hawks for Just Employment, un grupo universitario que aboga por los derechos y el trato justo de los trabajadores de la universidad.

Beth Ford McNamee, subgerente de Campus Ministry, dice que el grupo de tutorías es la representa uno de los pilares de Campus Min-

istry: crear un sentido de comunidad. “[Esto] es una gran manera de crear un sentido de comunidad entre nosotros y un grupo de personas con el cual casi no tenemos oportunidades de hablar,” dijo McNamee.

Para Bernier, este ha sido uno de los aspectos positivos de esta iniciativa.

“Creo que lograré conocer mejor a las personas con las que trabajo,” dijo Bernier. “Lograremos establecer una conexión, una relación.”

Carlo Cinaglia, un profesor de inglés como segundo idioma (ESL, por sus siglas en inglés), español y linguística, dice que el inglés es difícil de enseñar, ya que contiene muchas excepciones a sus reglas.

“Es como, ‘okay, aquí hay una regla, 10 ejemplos de esa regla, pero 40,000 excepciones a la misma que debes saber’,” Cinaglia dijo.

A pesar de estos retos, Norton dijo que muchos de los empleados en el grupo de tutorías tienen deseos de aprender inglés, y el hecho de que los mismos utilizan su hora de almuerzo para asistir a estas lecciones sirve como evidencia.

Cinaglia dijo que ha observado esta misma dedicación al aprendizaje en la mayoría de sus estudiantes de inglés.

“Una de las cosas que he aprendido sobre estudiantes adultos, es que aunque si enfrentan dificultades en cuanto a aprender como pronunciar ciertas cosas, y aprender ciertas palabras, compensan por esto con una motivación incomparable,” Cinaglia dijo.

Norton también dijo que sus estudiantes han tenido varios momentos donde finalmente entienden lo que están aprendiendo, lo cual es parte de proveer tutorías de idiomas.

“Es fácil ver cuando algo finalmente les tiene sentido; cuando finalmente entienden algo,” Norton dijo. “Es lo máximo.”

Los miembros del grupo de tutorías también reconocieron los beneficios que este les brinda “Me han ayudado en mi vida diaria y en mi trabajo, especialmente en cuanto se trata de comunicarme con mi jefe y mis compañeros de trabajo,” dijo Gloria Flores, empleada de mantenimiento.

14 Oct. 23, 2019

Sports

The Hawk Newspaper

Athletic department unveils new wrapped bus MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22 Photo Editor The department of athletics unveiled new branding on a bus used to transport athletes to events and away games.

The 54-seater VanHool coach bus, which is wrapped in a design incorporating “Saint Joseph’s University Hawks” branding, was acquired through a new expanded contractual agreement with Academy Bus, a charter bus company based in New Jersey, said Rob Sullivan ’06, senior associate athletics director for external affairs.

Sullivan said over the summer the athletics department, through its sports marketing wing Van Wagner Sports and Entertainment, negotiated a new expanded contractual agreement with Academy Bus which included a branded wrap for the bus.

“We’ve seen many other programs in the collegiate landscape and professional sports that have wrapped buses for branding and [the buses] really showcase and represent the investment into the programs,” Sullivan said.

The wrap was an internal university effort, from the planning by athletics to the design by the department of marketing and communications, Sullivan said.

“Within athletics we are extremely proud of the wrapped bus and we want other campus partners and internal and external folks to be proud of it as well,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan said that the bus’ first journey was to Lehigh University, carrying the cross country team to the Lehigh Paul Short Run. Senior cross country runner Zach Michon said he liked the new bus, which he thought was overdue. He said he noticed

many times that other schools would have branded buses.

“I would always wonder why we would always come with a brand bus, an Academy Bus or something,” Michon said. “But having an SJU athletics wrap on our bus means a lot to a lot of athletes.”

Sullivan said he and Jill Bodensteiner, J.D., director of athletics, have talked about using the bus for more than just athletics.

“We are more than willing to continue the conversation and keep the dialogue fluid to really maximize the branding component of that wrapped bus,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan felt that the positive response of the bus by student athletes makes the department want to be held to a higher standard.

Michon echoed the same thoughts that the bus is a welcome addition to the athletic department. “[The bus] adds a little bit of legitimacy to the SJU athletics program” Michon said.

Sullivan said the bus is a bold statement which highlights the new direction of the athletic department.

“There’s many more opportunities, resources and amenities that we can provide to enhance, upgrade and maximize the student athlete experience and the bus is one of those items,” Sullivan said.

Lynn Farquhar, head coach of the field hockey team, said the bus shows the university’s commitment to athletics and desire to widen athletic’s visibility.

“For our own student athletes, it’s exciting to step on as [a] Hawk; [the bus] resembles pride and that is powerful,” Farquhar said in a e-mailed statement to The Hawk.

Matt DeLeo contributed to this article.

The men’s soccer team poses during the unveiling ceremony.

PHOTOS: LUKE MALANGA ’20/THE HAWK

Former Hawk looks to earn roster spot with 76ers RYAN MULLIGAN ’21 Assistant Sports Editor Former St. Joe’s forward Isaiah Miles returned to Philadelphia for NBA training camp, as he competed for a roster spot on the Philadelphia 76ers before being waived by the team on Oct. 19. He will likely sign with the 76ers’ G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats, with a signing bonus.

Miles had previously played on the team’s summer league squad in 2017 and 2018. He last played for Limoges CSP in France’s Pro-A league where he averaged 9.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game last season.

Did you ever think your professional basketball journey would lead you back to Philadelphia? How does it feel to return back here?

It’s a dream and a blessing obviously to be able to do this at this point in my career.

Just being close to home, to my family and friends who haven’t really seen me play in the past three years since I’ve been playing overseas. Being able to see them and just being in America in general feels good. It feels like a weight lifted off my shoulders.

My mom’s coming to every game, especially at St. Joe’s even when I wasn’t playing that much, so being able to carry on that ritual that we’ve had, it feels good for me.

stitched, like yo this is for real, this is amazing.’ [In the summer league] you get a little pinnie, an ironed on pinnie. We got the stitched, it’s official with the last name on the back. That was definitely a surreal feeling.

What goals did you have for yourself coming into training camp?

I would say just making a roster spot, that was really the only one. I’m kind of known for being my biggest critic and hardest on myself, so being able to not put that much pressure on me, just to kind of relax and focus on the now and understand that I’m in an NBA situation and that’s a blessing in itself. Previously, I never played against NBA competition before unless it was summer league so just seeing how I matchup.

Playing pickup, just seeing how I do against Ben Simmons, or Joel [Embiid], or Mike Scott, or Al Horford, dudes you watch on TV who are all-stars, just being on the same floor as them you kind of see yourself and

say, ‘How do I really lineup against these guys? Am I ready to be in this league? Does my physicality match their physicality?’ So just keeping mindful of that, taking mental notes. I wanted to make it out of training camp, but I also wanted to learn as much as I can while I’m here.

Is there one particular player on the team this year that you have learned a lot from?

Mike Scott. He plays the same position as me. Me and him have the same skillset, so I’ve just been talking to him everyday, kind of watching him, watching how he plays on the court. He’s not a guy that you’ll look for to get you 30 points, but he’s a guy that’ll make big shots and play defense. I’ll ask him ‘What’s your mindset when you go on the court? What do you look for?’ Just picking his brain because he’s in the position where I want to be, especially as a role player on a championship caliber team and the Sixers

What was your first thought after signing with the Sixers?

It didn’t hit me until I put on my jersey on Sixers Media Day. I was like, ‘Yo this is for real.’ I put on the jersey and I was like, ‘Yo this has my name on the back, this is Miles helped lead the Hawks to the NCAA Tournament in 2014 and 2016.

PHOTO COURTESY OF PHILADELPHIA 76ERS

are a championship caliber team, so being a role player for them isn’t a bad job.

What does it say about St. Joe’s basketball to have four players competing for NBA roster spots?

It shows a little brotherhood, a camaraderie. Deandre [Bembry] and Langston [Galloway], they were in me and Charlie [Brown’s] shoes at one point. We have each other’s back and we all want to see each other succeed. Langston still texts me, I still text Deandre, we’re still a close knit family.

We still text each other a bunch of encouragement like, ‘You got this, stay confident.’

Every time we see each other it’s all love. It’s really like a family vibe, a brotherhood. It’s definitely important for me and it’s important for them.

What would be your message to current St. Joe’s player that hope to follow in your path?

Hard work pays off. Don’t give up. You can look at my stats, from my freshman to junior year I played five, six minutes a game and averaged one point, three points, something crazy like that. A lot of people told me to stop playing, people told me to transfer, people told me to try to be a coach or something, but I stayed the course, kept my head down, stayed with God and just worked.

That showed in my senior season where I got most improved player of the year, averaged 18 [points] and 9 [assist]. Just believe in yourself. If you don’t believe in yourself, who else is going to believe in you? It’s all cliche, but it works. You get the universe to unfold when you do stuff like that.

Sports

The Hawk Newspaper

Oct. 23, 2019

15

Senior cross country runner sets new St. Joe’s record MATT DELEO ’20 Assistant Sports Editor Senior men’s cross country runner Zach Michon finished in 21st-place, with a collegiate-best time of 23:53.3 at Lehigh’s Paul Short Run 8K course on Oct. 5. It stands as the fastest time ever by a St. Joe’s runner at the course.

Michon was selected as Atlantic 10 Performer of the Week based on his performance for the third time in his career.

“I went in with more confidence in my abilities,” Michon said. “This being my senior year, I wanted to compete the best I could, not only for time but to put myself up against the competition I should be comfortable running against at this point in my career.”

Michon started off the Paul Short Race relatively slowly. Within the first two miles he was about 55th out of 380 runners. He passed about 30 runners in the last 3K according to Head Coach Mike Glavin.

The size of the race of 380 runners and level of competition between seven D-1 teams and three or four of the best D-3 cross country teams helped Michon, Glavin said.

Teammate senior John Walker said

Michon followed up his performance at Lehigh with a seventh place finish in a 113-runner field at the Penn State National Invitational on Oct. 18. PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

there is a lot more to come for Michon based on his record-setting performance at Lehigh.

“Not the peak of his career by any means,” Walker said. “His ceiling is so far out there, you cannot see it. His potential is unreal.”

Walker said Michon’s success drives

from his work ethic.

“He does the little things a lot better, like something as simple as stretching,” Walker said. “You know what he wants and his goals are super high.”

Glavin said Michon’s progression is due to his ability to balance track and cross

country. He also said track and field is the speed turnover, the aggressive part of running while cross country is the grinding base building strength part.

“He gets better in track and field and gets faster, more confident,” Glavin said. “He trains a little stronger over the summer and then it shows up in cross country. Which then reflects in his confidence which shows up in track.”

Michon said he is more dedicated to the grind of cross country.

“That is something that I improved upon and definitely realizing my place as a long distance runner,” Michon said. “After running a few 5K’s in track last year, it definitely boosted my confidence a little bit in cross country.”

Walker said Michon is a big part of the strong culture the team has.

“It is always about what he can do for the team,” Walker said. “Likewise, how he can support guys and perform for the team.”

Michon said his goal for the team is that everyone runs their best race during championship season.

“If we can get every guy from front to back have their best race that will just take us so much further,” Michon said.

Father of women’s soccer player makes donation to team ANTHONY D’ANGELICO ’23 Special to The Hawk The father of St. Joe’s women’s soccer player senior Gabrielle Vagnozzi made a donation of $27,000 to the women’s soccer team.

The money donated by Dean Vagnozzi, a former real estate investor, is being used for new bleachers, benches and shelters at the Sweeney Field. Dean Vagnozzi said he made the gift in honor of his daughter’s final soccer season at St. Joe’s and to honor the soccer organization.

“I love what soccer has taught her, and I’m just helping out the best I can,” Dean Vagnozzi said. “I just see how much soccer has meant to my kid, I see how much she loves it, I see the work ethic she has [acquired from soccer].”

Gabrielle Vagnozzi has been playing soccer since she was six years old, and said she decided to attend St. Joe’s because she said it felt like she was joining a family.

“SJU changed my life,” Gabrielle Vagnozzi said. “With the soccer team, I now have 30 best friends.”

Dean Vagnozzi said he donated money for benches and shelters as a way of giving back and saying thank you to St. Joe’s and to the team that changed his daughter’s life.

“Gabrielle has said it a million times that it’s like a family,” Dean Vagnozzi said.

“The school [is] close knit and that’s probably the word I would use,” Dean Vagnozzi said. “Family.”

Head Coach Jess Mannella said the culture she fosters in the women’s soccer team emphasizes the importance of school, soccer and creating the feeling of family.

“We always say that we want [the girls]

to be bridesmaids in each others’ weddings and godparents to their kids,” Mannella said.

“I’m talking on the field and off the field. It’s special that you get these 25 or 29 other people to be a part of it.”

Gabrielle Vagnozzi said she did not find out her dad donated money to the team until one of her coaches mentioned it to her.

“My dad donated because he knows how much St. Joe’s means to me and how much these past few years have been the best of my life,” Gabrielle Vagnozzi said. “This is his way of giving back.”

According to head coach Jess Mannella,

Dean Vagnozzi’s donation will be used for new seating facilities so players have a place to sit during games that is sheltered from rain and other weather elements. “[The benches look] very professional.

We set [them] up as more of a soccer atmosphere [in] a stadium, so now the benches are on the other side [of the fan section],” Mannella said. “That’s great for the student athlete experience, it’s great for the fan experience, and it’s also great for recruiting.”

Gabrielle Vagnozzi said the new shelters make Sweeny Field look better and protect the players when it’s cold.

“When we walk out, we put all of our jerseys on the bleachers and it just looks nice,” Gabrielle Vagnozzi said. “It looks good with the bench.”

To Mannella, this donation is a representation of what the Vagnozzi family has meant to the women’s soccer team.

“The Vagnozzis have been amazingly supporting of our program,” Mannella said.

“We appreciate them more than anything and really, it really helped us look higher level. We’re doing much better on the field the past four years since Gabby’s been here and been successful, so we’re just very thankful.”

Dean Vagnozzi previously donated heart monitors to the women’s soccer program. PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

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16

Oct. 23, 2019

Sports

The Hawk Newspaper

Former Hawk returns to coach women’s lacrosse CHRIS KLINE ’23 Hawk Staff After four successful seasons as a player, Rebecca Lane, former St. Joe’s women’s lacrosse player returns to her alma mater and join her old coach and teammates to take on a new role. Lane was captain of the team her junior and senior years and is now a student assistant coach.

During her senior season, Lane was sidelined from a season ending injury, tearing her ACL for the third time in her life. According to NCAA rules, the game Lane was playing in was one too many to be eligible to redshirt, forcing her to end her career half a season too early.

“Hawk Hill has been my second home for the past four years,” Lane said. “I’m just happy to be able to contribute to the team in this new role.”

The opportunity to coach was a chance for Lane to remain involved in the sport she loves.

“Just getting any opportunity to stay on campus and stay in lacrosse,” Lane said.

“Being cut off from lacrosse right away and not being able to do anything would be too much.”

Working under head coach Alex Kahoe as a player and now as a colleague has helped Lane grow and perfect her role as a coach.

“Especially as a player, listening to her run drills and give feedback” Lane said. “I took it all in and it really helped me in this new role.”

Coaching after college was not the immediate goal, Lane said.

“I always thought about it,” Lane said.

Lane holds the career assists record at St. Joe’s with 84 assists through 54 games. PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

“It was definitely a surprise when the opportunity came around.”

However it is nothing new to Lane though, she coached back home in Australia before moving to Philadelphia.

“I was coaching back in my teenage years,” Lane explained. “Coaching really helps any player break down the game and think differently about it.”

Former teammate senior Bridget Cerciello said she admired Lane as a player

and now as a coach.

“I think from the moment I stepped on campus, she’s just been such an awesome role model and has always been a leader and has really grown in her confidence and abilities on and off the field,” Cerciello said. “Now seeing her as a coach it’s pretty much come full circle.”

Senior Julia Pash said how great of a coach Lane is, and explained how her careful, individualized coaching is key.

“She pays so much attention to detail and gives us the most individualized feedback to help us grow,” Pash said. “You learn so much from watching her. She’s been a leader every step of the way.

The Hawks now have the guidance of a former star player and of a familiar face.

“The fact I was able to coach after my injury really helped me come to terms with it,” Lane said. “I’m glad I’m still contributing and giving back to the team.”

Undefeated men’s rugby looks for redemption RILEY FRAIN ’21 Special to The Hawk The St. Joe’s men’s rugby team is off to a 6-0 start this season after conference playoff runs that fell short the past two years, both highlighted by losses in the Division 1AA National Championship. The Hawks are currently the number one ranked Division IAA team in the nation.

For senior center Matt Lydon, part of the team’s current drive comes from the lingering feelings of the two national championships losses.

“Those two national championships that we lost are still in the back of our minds every practice, every game, but that’s just what we are driving towards,” Lydon said. “Hopefully come towards the end of this fall season, we can make a push for that national championship.”

Lydon said that every underdog is targeting to beat them for bragging rights that they defeated the number one ranked team in the D1AA. He said the team stays focused on the little details and building up on those in order to maintain their success in the regular season this year.

“It’s just about keeping the momentum and not trying to build crazy upon craziness,” Lydon said. “It’s taking the small things, building the small things, refining the small things, making sure our plays are crisp, making sure we’re still doing the little stuff.”

For senior captain scrumhalf Noah Niumataiwalu, the toughest test of the season so far came against West Chester University on Oct. 18 when the squad was still only 5-0. Niumataiwalu called it one of the “biggest games of the season” against “one of our tougher opponents in the conference.”

After the team pulled out with a 47-10 victory over West Chester, Coach Daniel Yarusso praised the players’ performance.

“Going into that match both teams were

Junior Steven Coates makes a play against a Haverford College player. PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

undefeated, so we knew it was going to be a good match and that we had to bring our best,” Yarusso said. “Our guys certainly did that, and they really shined through that match, and I think it shows by the end result.”

Although the team often relies on its veteran heavy leadership from players like Niumataiwalu and Lydon, part of the team’s success this year is due to others who have stepped up in a big way to perform well when needed. One of those players, Yarusso said, is sophomore full back John Ahern.

“He’s just a phenomenal player, had a fantastic freshman year, and he’s picking up right where he left off,” Yarusso said. “He’s just a fan-

tastic rugby player for us.”

For Niumataiwalu, the step-up player is freshman center Will Woods.

“He’s been playing unbelievable, and defensively, he’s really helped us in the back,” Niumataiwalu said. “I’m really looking forward to what he brings to the table.”

For Yarusso, the emphasis during the team’s hot start to the regular season has been on two things, maintaining focus as well as finding ways to keep guys healthy in the long term.

“We gotta stay hungry because we know at any game, whether it’s our last two conference games or once we get into the

playoffs, we could potentially lose, and so we just need to remain focused all the way through,” Yarusso said. “The other thing we need to do is we need to stay healthy. It’s going to be a long race to the finish here and getting through to that championship game, which is our ultimate goal.”

Niumataiwalu already has his eyes on the finish, and the ultimate prize that has eluded the team the last two seasons.

“If we can lock this up, we’ll be set for the playoffs, and we can just worry about recovering and getting ready for that long run we know too well,” Niumataiwalu said. “We’re really trying to get that right this year.”